Leveraging Humor Content in Effective Communications for the Saudi Food Industry

Abstract

The study seeks to assess the impact of humorous content on marketing communication for local branded restaurants using the X platform. In this context, humorous content serves as the independent variable, while effective marketing communication is the dependent variable, which comprises four dimensions: human communication, emotional association, brand recall, and customer attention. The study population includes all Saudi fast-food restaurant customers who engage in comments or interactions on the X platform, totaling approximately 16.84 million individuals in 2024. A purposive sampling method was employed, with a minimum sample size set at 550. A fully structured questionnaire was developed and distributed to the study sample via Google Drive, achieving a response rate of 100%. The findings indicate that humorous content is used moderately in marketing communication. Moreover, the study reveals a significant positive impact of humorous content on effective marketing communications in local branded restaurants in the Kingdom. Specifically, strong effects of humorous content were observed on all sub-dependent variables: human communication, emotional association, brand recall, and customer attention towards local branded restaurants. Additionally, the study found a negative impact of gender on perceived marketing communications, while age and education did not show statistically significant effects on the perceived marketing communications of local branded restaurants in the Kingdom. Finally, the study presents several practical implications for decision-makers in local branded restaurants in the Kingdom.