THE ROLE OF ROASTING HUMOUR: A TWITTER TEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF WENDY’S AND TESCO MOBILE’S UNIQUE BRAND PRESENCE AND BRAND SUPERIORITY

Abstract

Wendy’s and Tesco Mobile’s use of roasting humour on Twitter and their ability to elevate the brand amongst Twitter users presents an intriguing case considering the insulting nature of roasts. Through roasting humour, Wendy’s and Tesco Mobile’s strengthened their brand presence and brand superiority on Twitter. To explore this phenomenon, a qualitative textual analysis was conducted on a total of 56 roasting tweets made by Wendy’s and Tesco Mobile alongside 20,000 tweets from each brand, to understand the context in which these roasting tweets were made. Engagement metrics (likes, retweets) and comments were also examined to capture how roasting tweets were perceived by Twitter users. Results indicate that roasting humour can contribute to brand presence with its ability to 1) accentuate Twitter users' amusement through a deadpan tone, 2) trivialise negative sentiments present in hate tweets, 3) engage other brands and 4) creatively create lasting memorable impressions. With roasting humour, companies can also establish their brand superiority by 1) associating competing brands with unappealing objects, 2) emphasising negative aspects about competitor brands and 3) disguising explicit promotions about the brand. Consistent with benign violation theory, twitter users viewed insults made by brands as benign and thus humorous. This was complemented by the responsiveness and persona of the brands. However, the effectiveness of roasting humour varies and is heavily dependent on how brands incorporate roasting humour into their marketing.