The emergence of a half-century of research on humour in advertising: what have we learned? What do we still need to learn?

The use of humour in advertising is widespread and research about it has grown rapidly. There are now at least 250 academic works devoted to advertising humour with over 150 articles, dissertations, books, and major conference papers appearing just since 2000. This article takes stock of the growth of advertising humour research, encompasses an account of the newer research, summarizes what we have learned, thus far, and lays out the dimensions that might be fruitful for future humour researchers. The review reveals a broad and rich array of work that contributes to the historical context, definition, development, effectiveness, and boundary conditions of how, and when, advertising humour works best. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of International Journal of Advertising is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder\u27s express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.