Impact of Humor Communication Message Elements on Brand Equity Mediator for Customer Relationships A Study on Fast Food Restaurant Customers via the X Platform in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The study aimed to measure the impact of humor message elements on brand equity in fast-food restaurants in the Kingdom. The independent variable (IV) is the humor message, which consists of three sub-variables: timing, content, and customization. The dependent variable (DV) is brand equity, comprising three sub-variables: emotional association, brand recall, and attention. The Mediator is customer relations. The study used a quantitative approach and is classified as analytical descriptive research. The study population includes all Saudi customers of fast-food restaurants who actively engage on the X platform, totaling 16.84 million Saudis in 2024. The sampling method is the judgment, and the minimum sample size reached 385 individuals. A fully structured questionnaire was used as the research tool for data collection, distributed via Google Drive, achieving a full response rate.
The findings of the study revealed several important results. Notably, there was a moderate positive impact of the timing of the humorous message on emotional association and a small positive impact on brand attention. Additionally, the content of the humor message exhibited a small positive effect on emotional association and brand attention. Customization of the humor message also had a small positive impact on emotional association and brand recall. As a result, there is a high positive correlation between humor messages and brand equity in fast-food restaurants. Furthermore, the timing of the humorous message was found to have a moderated impact on brand equity. In contrast, the content and customization of the humor communication message showed a smaller positive impact on the brand equity of fast-food restaurants in the Kingdom.
Finally, the study demonstrated that the mediator variable significantly affects the relationship between humor messages and brand equity. The research provided several practical implications for decision-makers in fast-food restaurants in the Kingdom.