The relationship between adult playfulness and viewers’ response to advert execution: an initial exploration

Adult Playfulness with advertising can be described as the way individuals derive enjoyment during their interaction process with advertising. It is an area that has received little attention in the literature. The study adopts an interactionist approach to playfulness that recognises the role of both trait and state theory. It investigates the correlations among the dimensions of adult playfulness and those on the Viewer Response Profile and considers whether the level of adult playfulness impacts on viewer response to different advertisement execution. Findings indicate that advertisement executions are not equally effective at reaching individuals with higher levels of playfulness. Implications for theory and management are discussed, limitations are noted and directions for future research indicated.