Clark Honors College

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Browsing Clark Honors College by Author "Ableidinger, Chris Evan"

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    Persuasion Mockery - Consumer Recall of Self-Aware Advertisements
    (University of Oregon, 2017) Ableidinger, Chris Evan
    Advertisements increasingly make fun of themselves. Whether it be through ridiculous exaggeration or breaking the fourth wall, advertisers and marketers are standing out by making a mockery of the very concept of an advertisement. This thesis explores the strategy of Persuasion Mockery: using the elements within an advertisement to make light of traditional advertising and its tactics in order to develop ironic humor. This phenomenon is well documented in advertising trade media - described as 'meta advertising' or 'self-referencing' - but rarely explored experimentally. This thesis tests the hypothesis that persuasion mockery within advertisements increases the ability of consumers to successfully recall the brand advertised. A study comparing persuasion mockery and traditional humor across three product categories found brand recall to be higher among ads containing persuasion mockery (p value <.001) when attitudes toward humor were controlled. This evidence is used as basis to accept the hypothesis, though its application is limited by the small sample size of the main test and potential confounding factors. Further results regarding correlations between persuasion mockery, daily television consumption, persuasion knowledge, and recall ability are also discussed. Directions for future research are outlined including the repetition of this experiment across more product categories in order to replicate results.