Introduction
Death is a universal experience, but it remains a taboo in commercial communication. According to Terror Management Theory, death awareness provokes existential anxiety, which individuals manage through cultural worldviews and consumption choices that provide symbolism. Depending on tone and structure, advertising can amplify or mitigate anxieties, shaping interpretation and emotional processing. Humor acts as a mechanism that reduces anxiety and facilitates the processing of distressing content. However, little research has examined its role in funeral advertising.


Purpose
This study examines how humorous funeral advertisements affect neurophysiological and self-reported responses and whether individual characteristics moderate these effects.


Method
A within-subject experiment was conducted with 58 participants, who were divided into three groups: young (M_age=29.29), adults (M_age=43.6), and elderly (M_age=60.89). The groups were balanced for gender (48% female). Participants observed 18 stimuli (9 humorous and 9 traditional) to determine whether people of different ages are more sensitive to death communication. Recorded measures included electroencephalographic indices of cognitive engagement and memorization, as well as physiological indices of heart rate variability and galvanic skin response. After each stimulus, participants reported emotional valence, perceived humor, purchase intention, brand awareness, and ad liking. Personality, emotional style, and communication apprehension and anxiety about death were also assessed.


Results
Ongoing analyses are expected to reveal that humorous advertisements elicit higher engagement, consistent with evidence showing that humor enhances attention and recall. These advertisements are expected to evoke different responses from individuals with varying levels of death anxiety or apprehension. Negative attitudes and emotional reactions are anticipated among elders, who can relate to the content more closely.


Conclusions
This research aims to improve our understanding of how framing strategies influence cognitive and emotional responses in sensitive situations. Building on the literature on taboo communication and terror management in marketing, it offers implications for effective, age-sensitive death care advertising.