All Joking Aside: A Serious Investigation into the Persuasive Effect of Funny Social Issue Messages

TLDR

The study examined how contemporary political humor influences information processing and persuasion, comparing processing motivation/counterargument distraction with message discounting. The authors conducted two undergraduate studies, exposing participants to Bill Maher monologues and to Chris Rock–based messages that varied in humor level and attribution. Humorous political messages were liked more, processed more deeply, and elicited less counterargument, yet they were also discounted more and did not boost short‑term persuasion, though a delayed sleeper effect emerged.

Abstract

This research was designed to assess the effects of contemporary political humor on information processing and persuasion, focusing specifically on two competing processes: processing motivation/counterargument distraction and message discounting. In Study 1, 212 undergraduates read one of four monologues by political comedian Bill Maher. Correlations and path modeling suggested that, in general, humor associated with greater source liking, closer information processing, and reduced counterargument, but also with greater message discounting. In Study 2, 204 undergraduates read one of four versions of a message based on the comedy of Chris Rock, manipulated to be more or less funny and attributed to the comedian or not. Results largely replicated those from Study 1. In addition, the humorous messages promoted more discounting than the serious messages, though they were processed with comparable depth. Although no more likely to be persuasive in the short run, the comedic transcript evidenced a sleeper effect after one week. In sum, the data were consistent with the notion that humorous messages might be processed carefully (but not critically) yet simultaneously discounted as irrelevant to attitudinal judgments. Implications for humor research and the sleeper effect are discussed.