Purpose: This study investigates the underlying behavioral mechanisms of meme marketing, examining how affective customer reactions, cognitive brand recall, and digital engagement collectively drive brand advocacy. Furthermore, the research assesses demographic nuances by analyzing gender variations in meme engagement. Design/methodology/approach: A quantitative, cross-sectional research design was utilized. Primary data collected from 200 active social media users were analyzed using Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) and independent samples t-tests to evaluate the predictive framework and group variances. Findings: The proposed model explains 79% of the variance in brand advocacy. While immediate affective reaction (β=0.12) and active digital engagement (β=0.39) are significant predictors, cognitive brand recall emerged as the strongest catalyst for advocacy (β=0.44). Additionally, the analysis revealed no significant gender differences in digital engagement, confirming meme culture as a universal behavioral phenomenon. Practical implications: The results caution marketers against the "vampire effect" in humorous advertising; viral memes must explicitly trigger brand recall to generate a return on investment. The proven demographic neutrality allows media planners to deploy unified, cost-effective, gender-neutral meme campaigns optimized specifically for network sharing and electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM). Originality/value: This study bridges Theories of Humor with Foundational Brand Equity Theory. It advances the digital advertising literature by transitioning meme marketing from a peripheral social metric to a validated, quantifiable driver of long-term brand advocacy