The use of humor in pharmaceutical marketing

Abstract

This thesis is a content analysis of Direct to Consumers Advertising of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Products and Services. It is a content analysis of advertisements using the emotional appeal of humor. The advertisements were categorized according to the type of product advertised: good or service. This study explores the use of humor and identifies the humor processes and types that are used in ads. We also examine the intentional relatedness of humor to the message and the role of other advertising elements such as the communication channel, presenter, music, and visuals in enhancing ad effectiveness. The purpose of this study is to provide insight to marketers in the pharmaceutical industry and shed light on a topic that has not been argued thoroughly yet. We used SPSS analysis to identify whether the use of the various creative strategies is associated with the type of product (good or service). We try to justify these results and the prevalence of our advertising elements according to previous research.