Humor And Persuasion Analysis

For centuries, humor has been utilized as a catalyst for bringing tears of joy and endless laughter to people in a variety of cultures and settings around the world. Its impact and influence can be seen in everything ranging from comedies to commercials. Throughout the years, humor has proven itself to be an effective tool in persuasion and more specifically, persuasive messages. Like any other persuasive tool, though, the effect that humor has on the audience that's receiving the persuasive message can be either positive or negative. Depending on whether this effect is negative or positive, humor can either support or limit the effectiveness of persuasion theories. Positive aspects of humor can be easily seen in the fact that audiences are

It is essential that humor is only applied once the variables of the situation are considered. If these variables are not thoroughly considered, the persuasive message could be received negatively by the audience, thus limiting the effects of persuasion. One example of the risks in using humor is with controversial situations/topics. In terms of controversial topics, it is best to avoid humor. In many cases, using humor could backfire on the source and cause outrage. In these sorts of situations, it is best that non-humor persuasive messages/advertisements be used. Another risk is that not everyone take kindly to the humor that is used. Some may be offended by the type of humor that is used in the persuasive message. Offending a very powerful person or a large number of people can cast a negative light on the message and the source (Yoon, 2015, p.126). A third risk deals with the strength of the message itself. If the persuasive message itself is weak, then there's only so much that humor can do to strengthen it. This means that humor is a helpful tool for strengthening/enhancing a strong persuasive message. However, it will not my make a poorly-crafted one strong. Due to this, it is essential that the persuasive message itself is strong. Humor should only be used to enhance it (Lyttle, 2001,

This theory states that how you feel about something becomes information that your mind uses to evaluate something. Humor plays key role in this. For example, a person may prefer a humor advertisement as opposed to a non-humor advertisement. His reason for preferring this may be because he feels more at ease when he sees an ad that makes him laugh. This will influence the way in which he evaluates ads. He will probably will be more likely to listen and less likely to disagree with a commercial that involves humor because that is what makes him comfortable. On the other hand, he will be less likely to agree with or feel at-ease with commercials that don't involve any humor at all (Magee,