Humor In Persuasion

Persuasion is the intentional action of a person to influence another person’s mental state through communication with outcomes either being positive or negative (Lyttle). Persuasion is seen throughout our daily lives whether it be at school or at work. In particular, persuasion in the business field portrays persuasion in higher levels because of the interests of people whether it be for money, passion, fame, etc. Persuasion in the field of business is an important skill to acquire allowing one to be successful with their business as well as dictating the pace of growth for one’s business. The usage of different nonverbal techniques in persuasion from tone usage, persuasion knowledge to the importance of appearance and trustworthiness allows

Different tones show signs or reveal if a person is confident, anxious, excited,lying, etc (190-191). The role of tone in nonverbal communication conveys meaning to the receiver while also depending on how the receiver perceives the given message by the speaker.. In his article, “The Effectiveness of Humor in Persuasion: The Case of Business Ethics Training”, Jim Lyttle, former university professor that specializes in teaching and public speaking, argues that the usage of humor affects businesses in a positive way wherein the better the mood of a person is, the better they respond to a persuasive message, and points out that humor in conversations has shown to produce positive effects (Moran). This led to Lyttle stating that humor would increase the effectiveness of a persuasive message because it shows that the production of positive effects from a persuasive tone not only allows a business to become successful but also nurtures and grows businesses. In the article,“Social Psychology”, the authors also agree that having a persuasive tone allows one’s business to prosper because it is noticeable that having a persuasive tone benefits different businesses and people that are in a good mood tend to come to a deal or less likely to disagree towards a persuasive message (Carlsmith et al). From both articles, it shows that the importance of tone increases one’s chances to have a successful

In their article, “On the Dangers of Pulling a Fast One: Advertisement Disclaimer Speed, Brand Trust, and Purchase Intention”, professors of marketing and psychology Kenneth C. Herbst, Eli J. Finkel, David Allan, Gráinne M. Fitzsimons investigates the impact of disclaimer speed on consumers’ intention to purchase the advertised product. Consumers must determine the motives of advertisers in order to make the right decisions because at the same time consumers believe that advertisers are using tactics to trick them (Friestad and Wright). This puts on a negative connotation among advertisers and shows that there is a lack of trust between consumers and advertisers however it is important to also see that not all advisers are untrustworthy. One way to notice if someone is lying is noticeable by a “vocalized pause” because words like “um”, “er” and “uh” are used to fill in the gap of communication (191). A problem in trust between advertisers and consumers lowers the capability of persuading customers into spending money while also lowering the credibility of advertisers. Herbst et al., points out that, “consumers believe that fast disclaimers represent a tactic used by advertisers to hide information or to deceive consumers”. Not only does this make customers doubt a given offer but this also shows that a hasty transaction produces an