The use of humour in the communication process, a study of the UK higher education recruitment process: Presentation of doctoral study to ISHS, July 2025

The study investigated the effectiveness of using humour in a message designed to increase recruitment to a UK university. Using the humour typology based on the Martin et al.’s (2003) Humor Style Questionnaire (HSQ) the participants (n=141) were asked to rate two recruitment messages, one a message using humour and a second non- humorous message. The participants were asked to rank if the messages were interesting and useful when assessing the likelihood of attending the university. The study found a strong statistical relationship on the question of the humorous recruitment message driving their interest. On the second question of whether humour was viewed as increasing the usefulness of the message no statistical relationship was found. The study also tested a hypothesis that female participants would be more inclined towards the affiliative humour and the male participants would be more drawn to aggressive humour types. Counter to expectations no evidence was found to
support either hypothesis. However, a strong statistical relationship was found to show female participants enjoying aggressive humour. The results suggest that traditional expectations of humour based on gender are starting to breakdown. The consequence of the study is that future messages are less likely to be created for gender specific audiences.