Persuasion
is the art form used to motivate others into changing the way they think and
act. When a persuader begins they first take a inventory of their available
tools. They may use fear, or reason to encourage others. Another way to
approach persuasion is the use of humor, through things like jokes, satire and
even sarcasm. Humor can be used to turn the tide, to motivate people to change
their attitudes, to look at things in a different point of view. The comedian
Bill Cosby was once quoted as saying “You can turn painful situations around
through laughter” The comedian Bill Cosby was once quoted as saying, “If you
can find humor in anything, even poverty, you can survive it”. Sometimes people
can be educated even through the darkest of issues through humor. Humor as a
tool can be used to educate, motivate and alter perspectives but just like many
tools if used incorrectly it can hurt or harm the efforts to persuade.
Described as an aid to persuasive messages, by Lyttle
(2001), humor is used for advertising and education. Lyttle uses persuasion
theory to gauge the usefulness of humor in persuasion situations. Persuasion
theory is the systematic approach to the use of persuasion according to Seiter
(2004). Lyttle describes how humor is useful in creating positive affect, when
people are put into a good mood they easier to persuade and less likely to be
disagreeable. Because of this Lyttle
predicts the effectiveness when used in persuasion messages.
When interested in increasing the likability of the
source is the issue, Lyttle also recommends the use of humor. The use of humor
can help bring to light a different aspect of person while showing the
subjects, before unseen values. Lyttle also sights that cartoon humor found in
education books leads to a more relaxed environment for learning.
Humor can be used to help build trust in the person or
persons using it. If the subject uses self-effacing, making fun of himself or
herself, help increase trust and then a persuasive message. Humor can and has
been used to help with weak arguments, but measured results in these cases have
been considered to be small. Some have called using humor in arguments as “add
spice”.
Advertising is seen as a form of persuasion that has used
humor extensively according to Cline and Kellaris (1999), which has seen a lot
of research. In a survey of advertising practitioners in America, 94% felt that
humor was useful in acquiring attention, while 38% believed humor helped with
understanding of the issue. Cline and Kellaris remark on the empirical studies
that have been done about the use of humor in advertising and the effectiveness
of it. Humor helps with the likability of ads but not always understanding.
They also say that sometimes there is no advantage of humorous adds over
nonhumorous ads.
Cline and Kellaris point out that to predict the impact
of humor on advertising, the heuristic-systematic model (HSM) is used. HSM can
identify those different approaches of persuasion. A possibility exists that an
ad can be effected humor; depending on how the humor is used with the argument.
HSM points out that if the humor is important to the comprehension of the ad
then it is highly possible it will influence the systematic processing. On the
other end, if the humor is not connected then it will have heuristic effects.
If humor is used inappropriately then it may have an
inverse effect to issues, according to Cline and Kellaris. For an example used
by Cline and Kellaris is in life insurance if humor is used insensitively.
The Army Substance Abuse Program, or ASAP, uses humor to
educate soldiers about the evils of the misuse of alcohol. In an article found
on www.army.mil, a
comedian is used in a mandatory training on post. The comedian, Bernie
McGrenahan, puts on his show called ‘Happy Hour’ uses his jokes to educate the
soldiers on how he let his life become horrible as a young man through his use
of drugs and alcohol. McGrenahan tells them about going to jail for drunk
driving to the loss of his brother.
The use of comedy helps drive home the need for the
soldiers to think about what they are doing when they start to drink. It also
is used to persuade them to look out for each other using terms like ‘Battle
Buddy’ and ‘wing man’. The humor never goes over the top but just to a point
where it helps build understanding of the subject and persuading the soldiers
into making sound judgment calls before they even start to drink. Even as
drinking and driving is a very dark subject, many have made the choice to do
so. With the use of the comedian, the young soldiers can possibly be persuaded
not to make the wrong choices.
As persuasion is a tool, it is not a laser guide tool of
complete accuracy. Even if it assisted by humor, there is a possibility that it
may not be used correctly or fail to persuade at all. Humor can be used to help
people understand a subject in a whole new perspective and possible comprehend
the subject more clearly. Humor can be used to build up likability of a subject
and or a person. Persuader can use humor to build trust. Humor can be used to
help in advertisement, depending on what needs to be advertised. On the other
hand humor cannot be used in all situations and sometimes humor can be
considered the wrong choice and be looked at as insensitive. Even the United
States Army has seen the use of humor in a serious subject like alcohol abuse
and drunk driving. Persuasion is the art of altering others way of looking,
thinking, or feeling about things and the use of humor to achieve these goals
can be a very useful tool used in the right hands.
References
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 December 5, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Global.
Lyttle,
J. (2001). The effectiveness of humor in persuasion: The case of business
ethics training. The Journal of General Psychology, 128(2), 206-16.
Retrieved December 4, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document
ID: 77223102).
Seiter, J. (2004) Perspectives
on Persuasion, Social Influence, and Compliance Gaining Boston,
MA, Pearson Education, Inc.
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_humor4.html. Retrieved
December 4th, 2011
Reese, R. (2011) Happy
Hour tour brings comedy relief. Retrieved December 4th, 2011
from http://www.army.mil/article/66947/_Happy_Hour__tour_brings_comedy_relief/
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