The Psychology of Humor and Its Influence on Advertising and Consumer Behavior

Photo by Elia Pellegrini, Unsplash

“Why so serious?... Let’s put a smile on that face!” says the notorious jester himself, Joker. 

Humor is best characterized as what tickles one’s own fancy, reciprocated with a sputtered burst, chuckle, or uncontrollable laughter. Capable of turning any frown upside down, humor can lighten one’s spirits up. It’s like the comfort food our souls crave. 

When a joke’s perceived as humorous, it’s hard to neglect the natural consequence of laughter. A well-executed joke is like a balanced walk on a tightrope. It relies on a steady build-up, which becomes gratifying as expectations are violated. Ingenuity is the producer of these safe yet pleasurable surprises, causing a spectacle of contagious, positive energy.

Humor’s secrets are worn on people’s sleeves, or in this case, expressions. What may seem as amusement in disguise, has the potency to sway without a warning. It makes for easier communication, pacifying any uneasiness lingering in the air. Or better yet, posing as a placebo drug.

As we’ll see, humor has the ability to persuade aside from being a stress reliever. How is it that dad jokes, silly puns, or sarcasm affect consumer behavior? Let’s first dive into the psychology of humor.

The Psychology of Humor

Humans are constantly self-conscious about their public appearances. We begin to question ourselves: 

“Does my breath smell?” 

“Do I have any food stuck in my teeth?” 

“Did I shake their hand too long?”

All these concerns make us feel like we’re under a spotlight in an interrogation room with Big Brother. Incapable of naturally taming our uneasiness, we look for distractions. In this case, humor serves as the wrecking ball to our discomfort. (Alexa, play Miley Cyrus’ Wrecking Ball!)

All stresses are then discharged and replaced with a pleasant sensation—like boiling water in a tea kettle. Our worries and anxieties accumulate like the pressure inside the pot. As the water boils, it festers the pot’s linings, creating a concoction of inflamed bubbles. When tension cooks inside us, we tend to feel disturbed or on edge. But when we open the spout of the kettle, steam is released, letting out a cry of relief. This high pitched-sound mimics that of laughter when we have an outlet to release that heat, subsiding the bubbling from inside. In psychology, this release of tension is known as the relief theory.

This is a fruitful metaphor to understand the psychology of comedy. The lead-up provides ever increasing emotional tension, ultimately released through the punchline. The punchline, especially when unexpected, releases this tension and causes us to reinterpret the entire lead-up that preceded it.

Take American comedian Gabriel Iglesias, for example. The art of a punchline runs in his blood. He starts as a storyteller trying to secure the audience’s complete attention. Once the crowd is captivated by his narrative, he then waits for the right moment to deliver the unexpected punchline. In his Aloha Fluffy special, Iglesias tells the audience about his tactic for approaching women, “I’ll walk up to a woman, I’ll say the first thing that comes to mind…”, seconds pass by, “...Hey, you hungry?” The crowd goes hysterical. The unanticipated response allowed the joke to have that element of misdirection that caught everyone off guard, creating a cohesive environment filled with laughter. This same reaction can apply to our everyday lives.

How Humor and the Relief Theory Applies to Everyday Human Behavior

Consider this scenario. You meet your significant other’s friends for the first time. The thought of not feeling accepted makes you break a sweat. You know first impressions are crucial, marking the high stakes from the get-go. As the evening starts, you start to wonder whether you’ll pass the “friend” test.

Luckily, to break the ice, out comes a deck of Cards Against Humanity. A sigh of relief escapes you, tensed muscles relaxing. Finally, an opportunity to show how relatable you are. 

The game’s objective is to catch everyone off guard by giving a funny response to the questions asked. The game starts off with the first question, it’s a fill-in-the-blank: “This is the prime of my life. I’m young, hot, and full of…” You look down at your cards and select “crippling debt” from your stack. The room begins to lighten up with a few snorts and giggles. This response feels like an old pat in the back, a comforting sign that you have breached into the circle of friends. For the next few rounds, you keep momentum to catch everyone’s attention.

This year’s hottest album is “Daddy Issues” by “Darth Vader.”

We never did find “a horse with no legs”, but along the way, we sure learned a lot about “whatever a McRib is made of.”

Most Americans would not vote for a candidate who is openly “Hillary Clinton”. 

And the crowd goes wild. Gone are the pressures of the friend test, and tensed sensations. All of a sudden, you’re invited to birthday dinners, hiking trips, and happy hours. Instantly, you went from strangers to friends, without a trace of your initial nerves.

This experience demonstrates how, without realizing, cracking a couple of laughs eases any tension, along with a safe and comfortable environment of self-expression. Humor was the distraction that made you forget your stresses. Instead, it has woven a newly found bond between you and new friends.

On the regular, our lives are filled with humor and laughter, underlining the element of shared empathy. Let’s take a look under the hood of the consumer world to understand how it plays out in consumer behavior.

How Humor and Comic Relief in Advertising Influence Consumer Behavior

Recall that humor has the ability to serve as a distraction. And for a distraction to succeed, it needs to be attention-grabbing. And for this distraction to be most effective, it must be memorable. This illustrates humor’s remarkable versatility in being a tool of persuasion by encouraging brands to create appeal in advertising with a humorous tone. 

Since humor is a stress reliever, we tend to focus on the highlights of our experiences—making us more willing to reminisce about the happy moments. This often leads to growing a natural liking to what made us feel good. This feeling of resonance is how brands gain a strong following. 

Brands are like people—each with a personality that aims to differentiate from the competition and create a distinctive positioning in the consumer’s minds. As for the brands that build humorous personalities, they seek to take a step further in establishing a sense of community.  

Take Geico for example. One of Geico’s most memorable commercials is of the comical Hump Day Camel. We’ve all experienced the feeling of having the longest week ever to only realize it’s barely Wednesday. That’s how Wednesday came to be associated with Hump Day, as it is the hump of a week’s-long activities. The commercial starts off by showing tired office workers from what feels to be a prolonged work week. All of a sudden, a talking camel starts walking around the office and reminding everybody it's Hump Day. Audiences were caught laughing at the unforeseen turn of events since no one was expecting to see the elated camel to be amongst the dispirited workers.

This led to an internet explosion of memes and a new Wednesday slang. Their relatable wit created a connection with their audience, leading many to join the bandwagon that is Geico. To further demonstrate how effective humor is in branding and advertising, Geico successively obtained the second highest market share percentage in auto insurance according to a 2019 National Association of Insurance Commissioners report.

Aviation Gin has also used this method of appeal. Turns out, hilarious actors can boost a company’s sales. Ever since Deadpool superstar Ryan Reynolds’ 2018 huge stake in the company, it experienced a surge in sales and production by 100%. The result? Reynolds-backed Aviation Gin gets acquired for $610 million in April 2020. Apart from its premium reputation, the brand’s creative direction has Reynolds’ personality over it. Reynolds captivates audiences by creating content that reinvents the audience’s perspective on what (truly) makes Aviation Gin so delicious. His sarcastic demeanor elevates the brand’s appeal, creating more buzz and awareness for Aviation Gin by producing ads that feel just as refreshing as a glass of gin and tonic with cucumber. 

Jokes are the surprising factors of misdirection that set the first impressions, catching our attention. When we go about our day, we may find ourselves recollecting and sharing those memorable ads that left us wanting more. By demonstrating a connection, the humorous brand voice builds rapport with its consumers. 

Unity is what drives consumers to come back to indulge in comic relief, which further cultivates a loyal consumer base with the magnetic charm that is humor. 

Brands have been quick to acknowledge the value that is putting a smile on our faces through the use of humor. It relaxes people and makes them want to be a part of the community that brings them joy, making for a win-win situation for both consumers and brands.

Like Joker points out, humor has an inexplicable healing power. It’s the medicine to appease our distresses.

So, why so serious? Maybe the Joker may have been on to something after all…

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What’s Next?

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References

BBC: How comedy makes us better people, Mary O’Hara

Business Insider: People Love Sharing Day-Related Ads Like Geico's 'Hump Day' Commercial, Stijn van Lieshout

Business Insider: Stars like George Clooney, Ryan Reynolds, and Bob Dylan have struck gold with liquor launches, and countless celebrities are following suit, Tom Murray

Content Marketing Institute: Ryan Reynolds Pours Content Success at Aviation Gin (B2C CMY Finalist), Carla Johnson

Forbes: The CMO's Guide To Using Humor In Marketing, Steve Olenski

Monro, D. H. "Theories of Humor." Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum 3rd ed. Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen, eds. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1988. 349-55.

Morreall, J. (2016, September 28). Philosophy of Humor. Retrieved from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/humor/

National Association of Insurance Commissioners: Property and Casualty Insurance Industry. Retrieved from https://www.naic.org/documents/web_market_share_property_casualty.pdf?17

On The Brain: The Harvard Mahoney Neuroscience Institute Letter- Humor, Laughter and Those Aha Moments, Scott Edwards. Retrieved from https://hms.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/HMS_OTB_Spring10_Vol16_No2.pdf

The American Scholar: Laughter and the Brain, Richard Restak. Retrieved from https://theamericanscholar.org/laughter-and-the-brain/

YouTube: Hump Day Camel Commercial - Happier than a Camel on Wednesday - Hump Daaaay!

YouTube: The Process | Aviation Gin