PhD Thesis on Humor in International Publicity

Dragana MEDIC, PhD Student from the joint TBS & TSM Doctoral Program, presented her thesis defense to obtain a PhD in Management Science on September 29^th, 2020. Her thesis studies the place of humor in international publicity.

A thesis on humor in international advertising

Thesis abstract

“Humor has always been one of the most popular tools of creative advertising” (Lynch and Hartman 1968). It is an important communication component of advertising in numerous countries (Eisend 2009). However, the use of humor in ads is still question of debate. While humor seems to be universally practiced, practices of humor in advertising are nevertheless extremely varied according to its heterogeneous audiences. Humorous advertising can also strongly be based on the culture of the country, its traditions and register more or less strongly in this specific context which could make them impossible to export or at least have the same impact on consumer behavior by crossing the borders (Palmatier et al., 2006).

The question of standardization and adaptation of advertising campaigns including humor has been the subject of extensive research over the last 50 years (Schmid & Kotulla, 2011). Companies are advised to “standardize” in their international communication and at the same time to “adapt” their strategies even locally to their national markets. The objective of this research is to understand the impact of culture and emotions in the process of persuasive communication and redefine the question of standardization of humorous advertising.

Members of the Jury

• Mr Jean-Marc DÉCAUDIN, Professor, Toulouse 1 Capitole University, Thesis Director
• Ms Virginie DE BARNIER, Professor, Aix-Marseille University, Rapporteur
• Mr Jean-François LEMOINE, Professor, Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne University, Rapporteur
• Mr Denis LACOSTE, Professor, TBS Education, Member of the Jury
• Mr Jean-François TRINQUECOSTE, Professor, University of Bordeaux, Member of the Jury

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