The Effects of Programme Context on Memory for Humorous Television Commercials

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of programme context on memory for humorous television advertisements in South Korean participants. Humorous and non-humorous Korean advertisements were embedded within two programme contexts; humorous and non-humorous. When the programme ratings of humour, enjoyment and involvement were higher, unaided recall was poorer. In addition, unaided recall of the advertisements was better when they were embedded within a non-humorous programme. However, there was no significant programme advertisement interaction effect. Overall, both free and cued-recall were higher for humorous advertisements than for the non-humorous advertisements. The findings are discussed in terms of cultural differences and changes in television programmes and advertising over time.