Humor is attention-getting, memorable—and persuasive
It’s the funny ads that go viral. And funny ads regularly clean up the Clio awards, advertising’s Oscars. Marketers have always relied on humor, but now brain science is helping us understand why it works so well—and how best to use it.
The human response to humor runs deep. Babies laugh before they talk, by about 4 months, and they go nuts for what researchers call the “safe surprise.” Think peek-a-boo, which one psychology professor deems “the archetype … of all humor.”
Most types of humor take advantage of incongruity—a form of surprise—to one degree or another (as some rather dry and unfunny analyses of humor in advertising show). Think punch line. A part of the brain called the amygdala, which plays a key role in the processing and memory of emotional reactions, is especially sensitive to the unexpected. EEGs show that incongruity stimulates the amygdala, as well as the temporoparietal junction, which is involved in detecting novelty.
So for starters, humor gets our attention. I’ve written about what an accomplishment that is. And humorous material is easier to remember. But further, as the brain tries to solve the “problem” of the incongruity between the punch line and the expectation shaped by the lead-up, it’s actually stunned for a moment. Its cognitive security system goes down, leaving us more open to suggestion. In other words, more open to being marketed to.
That’s why, as an article in the March/April issue of Scientific American Mind put it, “The persuasive power of humor is second to none.” And why the best jokes—for laughs and for marketing—are the ones we don’t see coming.
Tips for using humor in marketing:
1. The more unexpected/incongruous the punch line, the more persuasive the ad.
2. It’s easier to develop incongruity with video/TV than with print, which doesn’t give you audio or dynamic interplay of characters.
3. As always, know your audience. What’s funny to one audience is offensive to another.
Here are some examples of humor in advertising. High incongruity is one reason some are more memorable than others.
• Old Spice 1 and Old Spice 2
• Danier Leather
• Some very creative print ads and billboards
• Clio winners, many of which use humor
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Make It Funny
Humor is attention-getting, memorable—and persuasive
The human response to humor runs deep. Babies laugh before they talk, by about 4 months, and they go nuts for what researchers call the “safe surprise.” Think peek-a-boo, which one psychology professor deems “the archetype … of all humor.”
Most types of humor take advantage of incongruity—a form of surprise—to one degree or another (as some rather dry and unfunny analyses of humor in advertising show). Think punch line. A part of the brain called the amygdala, which plays a key role in the processing and memory of emotional reactions, is especially sensitive to the unexpected. EEGs show that incongruity stimulates the amygdala, as well as the temporoparietal junction, which is involved in detecting novelty.
So for starters, humor gets our attention. I’ve written about what an accomplishment that is. And humorous material is easier to remember. But further, as the brain tries to solve the “problem” of the incongruity between the punch line and the expectation shaped by the lead-up, it’s actually stunned for a moment. Its cognitive security system goes down, leaving us more open to suggestion. In other words, more open to being marketed to.
That’s why, as an article in the March/April issue of Scientific American Mind put it, “The persuasive power of humor is second to none.” And why the best jokes—for laughs and for marketing—are the ones we don’t see coming.
Tips for using humor in marketing:
1. The more unexpected/incongruous the punch line, the more persuasive the ad.
2. It’s easier to develop incongruity with video/TV than with print, which doesn’t give you audio or dynamic interplay of characters.
3. As always, know your audience. What’s funny to one audience is offensive to another.
Here are some examples of humor in advertising. High incongruity is one reason some are more memorable than others.
• Old Spice 1 and Old Spice 2
• Danier Leather
• Some very creative print ads and billboards
• Clio winners, many of which use humor