Memes matter: Exploring the effects of types of memes and source credibility on brand recall of health organizations.
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2025-06-19
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en
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In light of rising mental health awareness and digital health communication, this study explores how message characteristics and formats can influence brand recall. Particularly, this study investigates how meme type (humorous vs. informative) and source expertise (expert vs. non-expert) could affect an online user’s ability to recall a brand. Building on prior research on the use of humor in health messages and the Source Credibility Theory, the current research examines the research question: How do humorous vs. informative social media memes regarding mental health from expert vs. non-expert sources influence brand recall for a health organization? Participants (N=123) were exposed to one of four meme conditions posted by either an expert or non-expert source, after which brand recall was measured through an online questionnaire. Results revealed no effect of meme type on brand recall. However, source expertise emerged with an unexpected finding, as memes posted by non-expert sources led to higher brand recall than those shared by expert sources.
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