Developing a Typology of Humor in Audiovisual Media

Abstract The main aim of this study was to develop and investigate a typology of humor in audiovisual media. We identified 41 humor techniques, drawing on Berger's (1976, 1993) typology of humor in narratives, audience research on humor preferences, and an inductive analysis of humorous commercials. We analyzed the content of 319 humorous television commercials to investigate (a) whether and how humor techniques cluster into higher order humor categories and (b) which humor techniques and categories characterize commercials aimed at different audience groups. From principle components analysis, 7 categories of humor emerged: slapstick, clownish humor, surprise, misunderstanding, irony, satire, and parody. Our findings showed some marked differences in the humor techniques and categories in commercials aimed at different age and gender groups.