The Moderating Role of Gender Identity in Responses to Comedic Violence Advertising

Comedic violence advertising has been increasing in the United States, but many studies thus far have been content analytic in nature. To gain a better understanding of who will find comedic violence ads humorous and thus have favorable brand perceptions, two experimental studies were conducted with gender identity as an influential factor. In Study 1, masculine individuals responded more favorably to highly violent and humorous ads than feminine individuals did. Study 2 varied the violence level in the comedic violence ads and found that when violence was low both masculine and feminine individuals responded similarly to the comedic violence ad, but when violence was high masculine individuals responded more favorably than did feminine individuals. Perceived humor was found to be an important mediator of comedic violence ad processing. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are provided.