Seeing the funny side: Humor in pro-environmental communication

Area of Science:

• Interdisciplinary research integrating communication, psychology, marketing, and environmental studies.
• Exploration of social marketing and behavioral science principles.

Background:

• Pro-environmental messaging is crucial for social change.
• The role of humor in persuasive communication is under-explored in environmental contexts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the efficacy of humor in pro-environmental messaging for social change.
• To identify types of humor and moderating factors influencing audience response.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature review synthesizing findings across multiple disciplines.
• Analysis of various humor forms: satire, stand-up comedy, scripted entertainment.

Main Results:

• Humor effectively increases attention and alters perceptions (proximal outcomes).
• Behavioral influence (distal outcomes) is limited, with greater impact on low-interest audiences.
• Potential drawbacks and moderating factors of humor use were identified.

Conclusions:

• Pro-environmental humor shows mixed results, excelling at cognitive engagement but not consistently driving behavioral change.
• Further research with diverse samples and rigorous experimental designs is needed to fully understand humor's potential in environmental campaigns.