The Best Persuasion Involves Sex Appeal, Humor, and Comparisons

"Persuasion can be challenging because it often involves two different goals. On one hand, we want our persuasive approach to be successful at changing the opinions and behaviors of others in our favor. On the other hand, we also want the appeal to be likeable and improve our relationships with others, too."

"Specifically, a persuasive approach may be successful and effective at changing behaviors, but disliked and destructive to our relationships. With that problem in mind, Hornik, Ofir, and Rachamim (2016) conducted a meta-analysis on over 1,200 advertising experiments to explore the relationship between the likeability and success of various types of persuasive appeals."

"Sex Appeals involve using attraction and physical desirability to create positive emotions and arousal in others. This approach both maintains attention and is psychologically rewarding. Humor Appeals incorporate irony and playfulness to initiate positive emotions and arousal. As a result, this method also captures attention and is rewarding."

Persuasion often presents a dilemma: effective approaches may damage relationships while likeable ones may fail to change behavior. A meta-analysis of over 1,200 advertising experiments examined this tension by categorizing seven types of persuasive appeals including sex appeals, humor appeals, and comparative appeals. The research identified that effectiveness stems from creating arousal while likeability comes from positive feelings. The analysis revealed that approaches combining both excitement and positive emotions achieve the best outcomes, being simultaneously liked and successful at persuading others.

Read at Psychology Today