Abstract or Keywords
This study extends research on humor effectiveness to videos intended for social media engagement. A survey and content analysis of 2,911 videos revealed an attitude favorability toward humor over serious entertainment, especially when the message is intended for goods classified as low involvement and emotionally motivated. The study also suggests, however, that humor may dissuade social media participants from imparting comments. Although examination of structural characteristics suggests no significant differences in the performance of humor types suggested in Speck's (1991) taxonomy, results showed that content is more favorably received when humor dominates than when humor is subordinate to message information.