Humor and Persuasion Mitch Earleywine, Ph.D.
Jan 07, 2016
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