Interpersonal Communication: The Use Of Persuasive Humor In Advertising

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With humor being such a powerful tool it is no surprise that some of the largest companies use humor in their advertising. Across the industry 94% of advertising practitioners agree that humor is an effective marketing tool while 55% of advertising researchers would say that humor is more effective than non-humor advertising. (Weinberger & Gulas, 1992) Some companies such as Dollar Shave Club, Godaddy, and Old Spice have made a name of themselves through humorous advertising. Humor is found to be more effective in print advertising at the moment however there television commercials are starting to use humor more effectively to gain and maintain attention. (Spotts, Weinberger, Parsons, 1997,) The use of persuasive humor in advertising is a different than in interpersonal communication. …show more content…

While wit is involved in advertising it is a much slower calculated process. Advertising is often one-way communication, the entirety of the message is contained in the advertisement. There is no expected back and forth two-way communication between the consumer and the company. In this sense there is less demand on the company for quick wit, however they have to properly communicate their persuasive message in a single advertisement or in an ad campaign. Humor in advertising and its reception is highly dependent on the nature of the product the wrong natured product using humor may lose credibility in the eyes of the consumer. It is also crucial to take into consideration your target audience it is young, well educated, middle class men that are most susceptible to humor. (Madden, Weinberger,