Not All Claps and Cheers

Not All Claps and Cheers

by Francois Maon, Adam Lindgreen, Joelle Vanhamme, Robert J. Angell, Juliet Memery
Released February 2018
Publisher(s): Routledge
ISBN: 9781351998871

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Book description

Scholars from various disciplines have studied humor since antiquity. Yet, over the centuries, these researchers have also struggled to conceptualize a viable, well-accepted notion of humor. Beyond pleasure and amusement, people use humor for a variety of social functions. On the one hand, humor can cause others to like the humorous source more, attract regard, ease conversations, promote expression and the exchange of ideas, introduce new topics of discussion, or smooth interactions. On the other hand, in aggressive forms, humor can halt verbal interactions, modify the usual rules of conversation, communicate critiques, or contribute to the creation of subversive environments.

Not All Claps and Cheers: Humor in Business and Society Relationships is an original research anthology that considers different angles from which to address the use of humor by individuals, groups and business actors in their interactions within, around, and across organizations—that is, at the interfaces of business and society. Accordingly, the research anthology is organized in four sections—"Humor, Business and Society," "From Society to Business: Humor’s Use and Roles in Activist Movements," "From Business to Society: Humor’s Use and Roles in Marketing, Corporate Communications, and Public Relations," and "Society within Business: Humor’s Use and Roles in the Workplace and in Organizations."

This ground-breaking research anthology draws on material from marketing, communications, human resources and stakeholder theory to throw light on this poorly understood facet of human business behavior.

Table of contents

  1. Cover Page
  2. Praise
  3. Not All Claps and Cheers
  4. Title
  5. Copyright
  6. Dedication
  7. Contents
  8. List of Figures
  9. List of Tables
  10. About the Editors
  11. About the Contributors
  12. Foreword and Acknowledgment
    1. Humor, Business, and Society
    2. From Society to Business: Humor’s Use and Roles in Activist Movements
    3. From Business to Society: Humor’s Use and Roles in Marketing, Corporate Communications, and Public Relations
    4. Society Within Business: Humor’s Use and Roles in the Workplace and in Organizations
    5. Closing Remarks
    6. References
  13. Part 1 Humor, Business, and Society
    1. 1.1 Positive Psychology: Humour and the Virtues of Negative Thinking
      1. The Science of Positive Psychology
      2. Humour and Ideological Positivism
      3. Attempting to Distinguish Between Positive and Negative Humour
      4. Ignoring Contradictions
      5. Humourless Writing
      6. References
    2. 1.2 Friedman and Tocqueville Walk Into a Bar. . .: Deciphering the Business and Society Discourse
      1. Milton Friedman Walks Into a Bar. . .
      2. And Sees Tocqueville in a Dark Corner. . .
      3. Concluding on a Drift: From Business and Society to Business in Society
      4. References
  14. Part 2 From Society to Business: Humor’s Use and Roles in Activist Movements
    1. 2.1 How to Take the Joke: Strategic Uses and Roles of Humor in Counter-Corporate Social Movements
      1. Introduction
      2. Theories of Humor
      3. Humor and Social Movements
      4. Uses and Roles of Humor in Ccsms: a Dual Framework
      5. Movement-Level Strategic Roles of Humor in Ccsms
      6. Individual-Level, Psychological Roles of Humor in Ccsms
      7. Discussion: Humor as a Double-Edged Sword for Ccsms
      8. References
    2. 2.2 Clowning Around: a Critical Analysis of the Role of Humor in Activist–Business Engagement
      1. Introduction
      2. Activist–Business Engagement
      3. The Role of Humor in Business Communication
      4. The Use of Humor in Activism
      5. Method
      6. The West Australian Anti-Nuclear Movement (Wa Anm)
      7. Findings
      8. Cultural Differences in Humor Use and Appreciation
      9. The Role of Humor in Activist–Business Engagement
      10. Discussion
      11. Conclusions
      12. Limitations
      13. References
  15. Part 3 From Business to Society: Humor’s Use and Roles in Marketing, Corporate Communications, and Public Relations
    1. 3.1 A Typological Examination of Effective Humor for Content Marketing
      1. Introduction
      2. Method
      3. Grouping Humor Types From Comic Devices and Theory
      4. Theories of Humor
      5. Resulting Typology
      6. Perceptual Displacement
      7. Ironic Juxtaposition
      8. Hyperbole
      9. Surprise
      10. Putdowns
      11. Malicious Joy
      12. Unruliness
      13. Sentimental Humor
      14. Social Order Deviancy
      15. Awkwardness
      16. Humor Performance Results
      17. Conclusions
      18. References
    2. 3.2 Smes’ Ethical Branding With Humor on Facebook: a Case Study of a Finnish Online Army Store
      1. Introduction
      2. Origins of Different Humor Types
      3. Ethical Branding in Smes’ Digital Content Marketing
      4. Methodology
      5. Case: Varusteleka
      6. Research Protocol
      7. Findings
      8. Discussion
      9. Conclusions and Managerial Implications
      10. Limitations and Recommendations for Further Research
      11. References
    3. 3.3 With a Genuine Smile? the Relevance of Time Pressure and Emotion Work Strategies for the Adoption of Humor in Customer Contact
      1. Theory
      2. The Role of Humor in Customer Contact
      3. Time Pressure Threatens the Purposeful Adoption of Humor in Customer Contact
      4. Emotion Work Strategies Mediate the Effects of Time Pressure on Humor
      5. Method
      6. Measures
      7. Analyses
      8. Results
      9. Discussion
      10. Conclusions and Managerial Implications
      11. Limitations and Recommendations for Future Research
      12. References
    4. 3.4 Did You Get It? Newsjacking: What it is and How to Do it Well
      1. Introduction
      2. Attributes of “Good” Newsjacking
      3. Does Newsjacking Work Better When Humor is Used?
      4. Ability to Decode News Stories
      5. The Study
      6. Conclusions
      7. References
    5. 3.5 Promoting, Informing, and Identifying: the Case of Foody, the Humorous Mascot of Expo Milan 2015
      1. Expo Milan 2015: Between Communication and Business
      2. Why Foody and His Friends?
      3. Humorous Communication: a Qualitative Analysis
      4. Corpus
      5. Findings
      6. Conclusions and Discussion
      7. References
    6. 3.6 Controversial Humor in Advertising: Social and Cultural Implications
      1. Introduction
      2. Humor Theories
      3. Humor in Advertising
      4. Controversial Humor in the Local and Global Market
      5. Verbal Humor
      6. Verbal and Visual Humor
      7. Concluding Remarks
      8. References
  16. Part 4 Society Within Business: Humor’s Use and Roles in the Workplace and in Organizations
    1. 4.1 Humor Styles in the Workplace
      1. Humor Styles in the Workplace
      2. Current Workplace Research Using the Humor Styles Model
      3. Extensions of the Humor Styles Model in a Business Context
      4. Derogatory Aggressive Humor in a Business Environment
      5. Martineau’s Theoretical Perspective
      6. Derogatory Humor and the Humor Styles Model in the Workplace
      7. Concluding Comments
      8. References
    2. 4.2 the Value of Positive Humor in the Workplace: Enhancing Work Attitudes and Performance
      1. Introduction
      2. Humor: an Overview
      3. Humor Styles
      4. Taking Humor a Little More Seriously: a Growing Awareness of Humor as a Beneficial Human Attribute
      5. The Positive Impacts of Humor in the Workplace: From Anecdotal Reports to Scholarly Evidence
      6. A Changing Work Environment Calls for Changing Management Practices
      7. Integrating Positive Psychology With the Study of Humor in the Workplace
      8. Psychological Capital (Psycap)
      9. Opportunities for Future Research
      10. Conclusions
      11. References
    3. 4.3 Laughing Out Loud: How Humor Shapes Innovation Processes Within and Across Organizations
      1. Introduction
      2. Background
      3. Method and Data
      4. Findings
      5. The Effect of Humor on Proposal Design, Receipt, and Acceptance
      6. Marking a Proposal as Humorous
      7. Pushing for Laughter
      8. Joining the Laughter
      9. Discussion and Implications
      10. References
    4. 4.4 Laughing Apart: Humor and the Reproduction of Exclusionary Workplace Cultures
      1. Introduction
      2. Humor as an Ambivalent Social Gesture
      3. Case Study One: Sweater Day at Simon Fraser University
      4. Case Study Two: Pornography in the Firefighter Classroom
      5. Case Study Three: the Sexualized Environment of the Canadian Armed Forces
      6. Conclusions
      7. References
    5. 4.5 Does Verbal Irony Have a Place in the Workplace?
      1. Introduction
      2. Some Terminology
      3. Varieties of Verbal Irony
      4. Verbal Irony in Close Relationships
      5. Verbal Irony in the Workplace
      6. Verbal Irony Online
      7. Conclusions
      8. References
    6. 4.6 Just Kidding: When Workplace Humor is Toxic
      1. Introduction
      2. Humor in the Workplace
      3. Negative Humor and Its Repercussions
      4. Toxic Workplace Humor
      5. Real-World Examples
      6. Conclusions
      7. References
    7. 4.7 Just a Joke! a Critical Analysis of Organizational Humor
      1. Introduction
      2. Methodology and Data
      3. Management’s Imposition of Humor
      4. Displaying the Boss’s Buttocks
      5. Management Controlling Humor
      6. Resisting Managerial Directives Through Joking
      7. Concluding Remarks
      8. References
  17. Index

Product information

  • Title: Not All Claps and Cheers
  • Author(s): Francois Maon, Adam Lindgreen, Joelle Vanhamme, Robert J. Angell, Juliet Memery
  • Release date: February 2018
  • Publisher(s): Routledge
  • ISBN: 9781351998871