The use of humor in corporate communication

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how humor can be used to help improve understanding of a message, as well as to validate the findings of the Booth‐Butterfield humor orientation scale.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used the Booth‐Butterfield humor orientation scale to measure the effectiveness of using humor to maintain focus on written or verbal messages.

Findings

The results showed that participants who rated higher on this scale are more apt to understand and use humor in their daily communications with each other and the home office. The study also showed that there is no significant difference in the frequency and effectiveness of humor usage by participants based on age or geographic location.

Research limitations/implications

All of the managers for this conservative company are currently male. This limits any analysis of this study based on gender. It also removes gender as an additional variable, which could have complicated the results.

Practical implications

Humor has been proven to contribute to increases in compliance, learning, attitude shifts and enjoyment. It also contributes to improved organizational cohesiveness. By knowing whether an audience perceives humor differently, based on age or location, the sender can target the message more effectively.

Originality/value

This paper took the findings of the Booth‐Butterfield study and expanded the parameters to include a larger age range and demographic area to test the impact on the humor orientation scale.

Citation

McIlheran, J. (2006), "The use of humor in corporate communication", Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 11 No. 3, pp. 267-274. https://doi.org/10.1108/13563280610680849