Methodology

A survey was distributed in this study to answer the research questions. Pointdexter and McCombs (2000) stated that surveys are often chosen in research projects looking to discover attitudes, opinions, and behaviors. The use of surveys will help identify the consumer's responses to Super Bowl commercials and whether they found it humorous or violent. The goal of the research questions in this study is aimed to see how viewers react to Super Bowl commercials when different types of humor are involved.

The survey consists of Likert-type scale questions, checkboxes, short answer questions, and multiple-choice questions. The survey was created and distributed in Google Forms. The website doubled as the survey database and collected all the responses. The survey was broken down into eight different pages, the first three pages consisting of screening questions followed by demographic questions on page four. Commercials were shown to participants followed by questions on pages five through seven. The final page asked further questions about the commercials shown.

This study used convenience sampling and snowball sampling via social media. The researcher shared a link to the survey through social media websites like Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and SB Nation. Most respondents were found through Instagram and Facebook, while fans of either team were targeted through SB Nation. Before taking the survey, participants were required to affirm that their participation in the survey was both voluntary and that they were free to leave at any moment.

The target demographic for this sample is both men and women between the age of 18-75. They were consumers of the 2022 Super Bowl but they don't need to be fans of either team playing. Although, at least 40 of the respondents must be fans of either the Bengals or Rams. In terms of getting ahold of Bengals and Rams fans, the researcher contacted SB Nation and posted it to their forum fan pages. The research was collected from March 2, 2022, to March 25, 2022, a period of three weeks following the airing of the Super Bowl game and ads.

The survey included Likert-type scale questions, checkboxes, short answer questions, and multiple-choice questions. The survey began with an informed consent form and gave them the option to agree or disagree to proceed with the survey. The second screening question asked respondents if they watched the 2022 Super Bowl. The final screening question asked if respondents were students at Endicott College to block students from taking the survey. For all three of the screening questions, if respondents answered incorrectly they were brought to a final page to thank them for their participation. The main body of the survey was the main demographic questions, such as age and gender, the commercials and attached questions, and finally a recall portion at the end of the survey.

The questionnaire was broken down into 5 main sections, consisting of eight pages in total. Following the screening questions, the next section focused on fan/non-fan and asks if participants are fans of either the LA Rams or Cincinnati Bengals. Participants were then asked to simply check the boxes of brands they remember advertising in this year's Super Bowl. On the following pages, participants are shown a 60-second commercial from the game. The next section of the survey asks the participant what they thought about the commercial, whether they thought it had humor, violence, if so, why, and lastly, whether the commercial changed their opinion of the brand or not. This exact same format is repeated for two more commercials. The three commercials were different in that one of the commercials contained humor, one contained violent humor, and one did not contain either.

After participants watched the three 60-second videos and answered the questions, they moved on to the recall section. This section asks participants to check the boxes of the three commercials they watched while completing the survey. These questions test specific recall of the commercials and ask which celebrities were shown, which commercials showcased their product, and which products were consumed during the commercials. Lastly, participants were asked if they thought violence made a commercial more memorable to see what people could truly remember.

Each of the three research questions had a different analysis approach. For research question one, the two main variables are fans versus nonfans in terms of consuming the Super Bowl and their recall of commercials broadcast during the Super Bowl. The recall was tested through a list of companies, some of which advertised during the game, and respondents were asked to check which commercials they remembered. Cross-tabs were used to tally how many companies were recalled in fans versus nonfans.

Respondents were shown three advertisements, one from each category representing humorous, violent-humor, and non-humorous. A series of questions were asked to test how much consumers could recall about each category of the Super Bowl commercials they just watched. First, participants were asked which brands were represented in the categories. The percentage of people who recall the violent brand versus the non-violent brands was tested. Brands included Hellmans versus Budweiser or Lays. The next question will test which products were physically shown in the commercials, which were all three Lays, Hellmans, and Budweiser. The percentage of participants that answer each condition of humor will be analyzed. The consumption of each product was tested, as Lays and Hellmans feature physical consumption. Finally, people were asked to recall which advertisements featured celebrities or not.

The final research question tested respondents' reactions to violent humor versus non-violent humor. To assess this question, after viewing each advertisement participants were asked whether they thought the advertisements were violent or not. Also after each commercial, participants were asked whether the advertisement changed their opinion on the brand. The data was compared to each of the humor types to test this even further. The final question simply asks whether participants thought violence made a commercial more memorable. The combination of responses will help compare how people actually respond to the advertisements versus how they think they respond. In order to understand if there were gender or age differences in how people responded, a Bivariate analysis was used to identify any similarities or differences in how men and women responded to humor styles in Super Bowl commercials. A bivariate analysis will also test product recall.

If you would like to watch the commercials used in the study, they are linked below.

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