The Effectiveness of Humor in Persuasion

        

Tell a joke.  Go ahead; use your comedic powers of persuasion to try to make someone laugh.  In essence, when humor is employed in some fashion, whether it is a simple joke, sarcasm, irony, or prank, the target is being persuaded to respond with an emotional reaction.  For example, comedians are the great persuaders of all time.  They work hard to perfect their craft in order to elicit a calculated emotional response from their audience.  Additionally, “humor is widely used as an aid to persuasive messages such as advertisements and lesson plans” (Lyttle, 2001).  If one looks closely at the relationship between humor and persuasion, it would be plainly revealed that the two are closely intertwined.  By examining the effectiveness of humor in persuasion, the risks with attempting to use humor in persuasion, as well as how the technique of humor can support or limit the effectiveness of persuasion, more may be revealed about the symbiotic relationship that is evident between persuasion and humor. 

Humor can often prove to be an incredibly effective tool when attempting to persuade another to feel or believe in concert with your own feelings or beliefs.  It is truly undeniable that without some form of persuasive element involved, humor would be ineffective and nearly non-existent.  Humor is clearly a strong aspect of advertising, another persuasive medium.  In fact, a group of U.S. advertising practitioners were surveyed and “94% believed humor was effective in gaining attention” (Cline, Thomas, & Kellaris, 1999).  Furthermore, in a survey of randomly sampled consumers, “62% said that humorous ads were the most influential” (Cline, Thomas, & Kellaris, 1999).  From this data alone, it is fairly safe to state that when humor is employed in combination with persuasion, the persuasive aspect is amplified and is much more effective than if there were no humor involved at all.  The effectiveness of humor in relation to persuasion is also evident in the field of business ethics.  In a survey studying the effectiveness of humor in business ethics training, it was determined that “the self-effacing combination of the ironic wisecracks with the cartoon drawings was the most effective of all, suggesting strong persuasive advantages specific to the combination of these ironic wisecracks and these cartoon drawings” (Lyttle, 2001). So specifically, irony and visual humor were found to be the most persuasive forms of humor.

            Though humor is a persuasion tool that has been proven effective, there will always be risks associated with using humor in conjunction with persuasion.  For example, if attempting to persuade someone during a hostile conversation, it may not be the best time to implement a humorous persuasive tactic as it may make the situation even tenser.  Additionally, the target may not understand the intended persuasive humor and possibly take offense to the humor and or/sarcasm.  Another possible risk when employing humor as a persuasion tactic is that the persuasion target may mistake the joking nature of the persuasion for a lack of seriousness or maturity on the part of the persuader.

             Similarly to the risks associated with using humor as a persuasion device, humor can also greatly support or limit the effectiveness of persuasion.   Using humor as a persuasive element may boost the effectiveness of the persuasion, as some people, more so than others, are receptive to humor as a general rule and tend to respond favorably to joking and sarcasm.  According to Lyttle, “a humorous ad may increase attention while at the same time disrupt processing” (Lyttle, 2001).  In lamens terms, a downside of using humorous persuasion may be that though the target is drawn in through the humorous exchange, the message of the persuasion may not actually be comprehended.  Therefore, though the persuasion target has seemingly responded well to humor, the persuasion was ultimately ineffective as the humor distracted the target from the idea and rendered the persuasion attempt moot. 

                        Comedic powers go far in persuading others to see a certain point of view or to accomplish a certain task.  Even simple humor in the form of joking, sarcasm, or irony, endeavors to utilize persuasion to evoke an emotional response in the persuasion target.  A generalization of an individual who seemingly effortlessly uses humorous persuasion to entrance audiences is a comedian; comedians practice tirelessly in order to project a façade that employs humor in order to persuade audiences to react as the comedian has planned in advance.  Upon careful review, one may realize that humor and persuasion are two entities that are closely intertwined; some forms of persuasion may not even exist without the implementation of humor. Ultimately, it was by examining the effectiveness of humor in persuasion, the risks with attempting to use humor in persuasion, as well as how the technique of humor can support or limit the effectiveness of persuasion, that more was indeed revealed about the symbiotic relationship that is clearly evident between persuasion and humor.        

Jim Lyttle.  (2001). The effectiveness of humor in persuasion: The case of business ethics training. The Journal of General Psychology, 128(2), 206-16.  Retrieved November 28, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 77223102).     

Cline, Thomas W, & Kellaris, James J. (1999). The joint impact of humor and argument strength in a print advertising context: A case for weaker arguments. Psychology & Marketing, 16(1), 69.  Retrieved November 28, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 37875581).