Humour in Financial Advertising

Master's abstracts for 2003

DIFFERENT SUBCULTURE PERSPECTIVES OF MONEY AND HUMOROUS ADVERTISING APPEAL

Aarambh Shah, MA
University of Florida, 2003
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ADVISOR: Jorge Viellegas

Hispanics. Money. Humor.

Money is an object that is based on trust; it has served as a medium of exchange for centuries, which have derived from the pre-capitalistic formations of barter. Thus economically, money has been seen as objective and utilitarian, a commodity that is ordinary, mundane, impersonal, neutral, and is comprised of quantitative meaning. However, many social scientists see money as a subjective unit, an object where different individuals attach an affective and emotional meaning to it. This research taped into the subjective components of money from a Hispanic intra-subculture perspective due to the high demand from marketers to target financial products toward them, and the vast complexities that lie between these groups in terms of attitudes and behaviors. Unfortunately, a major consensus from empirical evidence has been conducted involving how Hispanics are less likely to plan and prepare for their future (i.e. they are present oriented) than their counterparts: Anglo-Americans. Yet, the majority of research has only focused on Mexican Americans as opposed to other Hispanic subcultures. As a result, this exploratory research investigated differences in attitudinal and cognitive abilities for both planning and preparing for their future and humorous advertising appeals. Even though a convenience student sample was used, a major finding from this research has shown that Cuban American (both high and low acculturated) are more likely to prefer a non-humorous financial advisement while Mexican Americans (both high and low acculturated) are more likely to prefer a humorous financial advertisement. Therefore, marketers can utilize these techniques to further tap into these Hispanic niche markets by creating and customizing ads towards their preferences, while indirectly helping them gain financial independence. [#487]

http://www.aejmc.org/abstracts/masters.php?syear=2003
Association for Education in Journalism and mass communication