Humor and PersuasionHumor and Persuasion

Mitch Earleywine, Ph.D.Mitch Earleywine, Ph.D.

$43,000,000,000

• Health• Relationships• Creativity• Talent• Negotiation• Persuasion*

What humor can do• Attention (Initial and sustai• Memory (recognition and r• Liking (ad and brand)• Purchasing intention

•Type• Relevance• Style• Audience• Product

ModelsOffenseInsanity not required

How does it work?

TELIC PARA-TELIC

Incongruity

“I haven’t slept for two weeks.”

Incongruity

•“…because that would be too long!”

Yes

No (Surprise!)

Set up generates expectation

Punch fit? No Laugh

Incongruity

Explanation possible? Nonsense No

Yes

“The punch line triggers the switch from one script to the other by making the hearer backtrack and realize that a different interpretation was possible from the very beginning.”

Attardo and Raskin, 1991

One thing seen two different ways

Greg Dean’s Approach• Set up first story• Target assumption• Connector• Reinterpretation• Second Story• Punch

I haven’t slept for two weeks• 1ST STORY ASSUMPTION: “He hasn’t slept at any

time in the last 14 days.”• 2ND STORY (generated by punch): “He means that

he hasn’t slept for 14 days consecutively.”• CONNECTOR: “for”

CreativityREFRAME

Insight

On the other hand... - Steven Wright

On the other hand…• 1ST STORY ASSUMPTION: “He’s using an expression

to bring up a counterpoint.”• 2ND STORY (generated by punch): “He means his

other hand, literally.”• CONNECTOR: “hand” on “on the other hand”

Your turn

The first thing that strikes a stranger in New York is…

Your turn• I played golf the other day and broke 70. …• For years my husband and I were deliriously

happy…• I'd like to introduce a man with a lot of

charm, talent, and wit…

Nonsense• Incongruity unresolved

• AUDIENCE? Best for extraverted sensation seekers, high in openness

• PRODUCTS? The low risk ones that they like: beer, coffee, energy drinks, desserts

Nonsense

MOO!MOO!

Relevance

• Higher and lower humor • Higher and lower “relatedness”

RELEVANCE VIDEO 1

RELEVANCE VIDEO 2

Round Table Question

How would you apply this to your business,

and what are the risks?

Relevance mediated by attention and mood.

STYLE

Humor Styles:RELATIONSHIPS

Tone

Target

POSITIVE NEGATIVE

SELF Self-Enhancing Self-Defeating*

OTHERS Affiliative** Aggressive

• LAMP• Incongruity/Resolved• Nonsense• Relevance• Affiliative style

Who likes what?Incongruity-Resolution• Neuroticism• Religious

Fundamentalism• Authoritarianism

Nonsense• Openness• Extraversion• Sensation Seeking

Buying what?Functional Expressive

High Risk Big Tools (White)*Large appliancesFamily CarsInsurance

Big Toys (Red)FashionsSports CarsJewelry

Low Risk Little Tools (Blue)GasolineCleanersRegular food

Treats (Yellow) **BeerCOFFEEDesserts

Cialdini’s Big Six• Scarcity• Liking• Authority• Reciprocity Rule• Commitment and Consistency• Social Proof

• SLARCS

• “People do not buy from clowns.” -Claude Hopkins 1923

• “Good copywriters have always resisted the temptation to entertain."

-David Ogilvy 1963 • “I have reason to believe that... humor can now

sell." -David Ogilvy 1982