Commentary

Just An Online Minute... Women Love Humor

  • by March 31, 2004
News alert!

  • Twice as many younger women (18-34) as older women (50 +) think sarcasm is funny: 79 percent versus 39 percent.

  • The majority of women 18-49 would choose a mate who is very funny over a mate with a lot of money, and two-thirds of women would choose a mate who is very funny over a mate with extremely good looks.

  • Politically conservative and liberal women (18 to 49) think that "a lot of today's comedy pushes the envelope in a good way: 55 percent conservative versus 79 percent liberal.

  • The majority of women (88 percent) are less likely to change the channel during the commercial break if the ad is funny.

  • Nearly nine in 10 women will tell other people about a funny commercial they like.

    These are the findings of a study on women and humor conducted by Oxygen Media, Grey Global Group's MediaCom, and NOP World's RoperASW.

    I'm not sure whether these funny fundings reveal anything significant about women, but they may give marketers guidance with respect on how to reach them. For example, the study notes that 89 percent of the women 18-49 surveyed say they like funny commercials better than other kinds of commercials. But half of 18-49s say funny commercials are inappropriate for documentaries or educational programs; 45 percent say they're not a good fit for news or news magazine shows. Seventy-three percent of those surveyed said that a funny commercial is more memorable than a sexy commercial.

    Women 18 to 49 say it is appropriate to use humor in advertising in most product categories including food, restaurants, and luxury products. Funny ads are also okay for everyday health issues with respect to pharmaceutical advertising (59 percent), and feminine hygiene products, menopause treatments, or sexual health products (54 percent).

    The findings reveal the degree to which women embrace humor, and that they don't mind making fun of themselves. Of course the study doesn't address online humor. Surely, this is the next frontier. It's also one I expect to hear more about, and not only because Jerry Seinfeld has entered the Web realm via American Express' Webisodes. Web advertising can be, and should be funny, bold, emotional, provocative, and titilating. Bring it on.

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