The effect of joke-origin-induced expectancy on cognitive humor

Abstract

Four experiments explored the effect of humor expectancy on the cognitive evaluation of jokes. Participants read jokes purportedly delivered by celebrity comedians or celebrity non-comedians. Participants reported jokes in the comedian condition to be significantly more amusing (Experiment 1). Furthermore, this effect was repeated in a within-participants replication where celebrity comedians and celebrity non-comedians were matched on positive evaluations (Experiment 2). This indicates that the findings cannot be explained via differential positive attitudes towards the celebrities in each condition. In Experiment 3, different types of jokes (incongruency/nonsensical) and humor levels (high/low) were compared. The expectancy effect was found to be more pronounced for nonsensical jokes. This was argued to be due to nonsensical jokes being more uniquely associated with comedians, whereas the ubiquity of incongruency jokes dilutes any effect of expectancy. However, Experiment 4 demonstrated that the expectancy effect is contingent on the name of the comedian being observed. In summary, it is argued that prior exposure to the named comedian primes an expectancy of forthcoming humor; this expectancy influences humor ratings. These findings are consistent with Wimer and Beins (2008), who showed that priming humor expectations through joke ratings can influence cognitive humor. The current study may explain why new comics need to "win over the audience" whereas established comedians can rely upon the expectation of humor derived from past exposures.

Modulation of humor ratings of bad jokes by other people’s laughter

“…Laughter and humor are distinctly different phenomena [1,2,4], though the perception of both is influenced socially. The funniness of a joke can be affected by who tells it [9] and by the cultural origins of the joke [10]: in the current study funniness is modulated by the presence and intensity of laughter. Laughter is an extremely salient and important social cue and although laughter can be commonplace, it always carries a wealth of critical social and emotional meaning [2], and we process it even if we are not directed specifically to engage with the laughter [2].…”

How to craft humorous advertisements across diverse cultures? Multi‐country insights from Brazilian, Chinese and American consumers

“…Although researchers have independently studied and demonstrated the effectiveness of cognitive and affective humour on persuasion (Gelb & Zinkhan, 1986; Johnson & Mistry, 2013, Lammers et al., 1983; Unger, 1995), humour research that investigates both cognition and affect simultaneously is called for (Crawford & Gregory, 2015; Vakratsas & Ambler, 1999). Given that consumer behaviour is dynamic and that each decision involves both cognitive and affective processes (Berryessa & Caplan, 2020; Maheswaran & Shavitt, 2000; Punyatoya, 2019; Verhagen & Bloemers, 2018), investigating both aspects is essential to enhance understanding of the effects of ads and improve predictions about consumer responses to humorous ads (Eisend, 2011; Lammers et al., 1983; Vande Velde et al., 2018).…”

A series of experiments on humour perception and memorization – a case of humour associations and remembering humorous stories

“…A non-comedian told the funny stories. People find jokes delivered by comedians to be significantly more amusing (Johnson & Mistry, 2013). When people are told to expect humorous material, the humour effect on memory still emerges (Carlson, 2011).…”