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THE USE OF HUMOR IN FACILITATING VOLUNTARY SELECTIVE EXPOSURE TO TELEVISED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS
Abstract
A field investigation was conducted in which a voluntary audience was exposed to educational television programs with humorous episodes inserted so as to produce a 2 x 2 x 2 x 3 factorial design. Factors were level of difficulty of the educational message (easy, difficult), funniness of the humor (not-so-funny, funny), distribution of the humor (random, predictable), and density of the humor (intervals without humor ranged from two minutes to four minutes to six minutes in length). Corresponding to the factorial combinations, twenty-four educational television programs were produced as well as two no-humor control conditions. Viewers' attention to the television screen was assessed on three different indices: (1) the frequency of "stop and go" behavior; that is, the frequency of subjects who "stopped and watched" or who "abandoned watching" the television screen; (2) the frequency of "eyes toward" and "eyes away" from the screen, measured by observing subjects' faces and coding the occurrences of eyes turned "toward the screen" as well as "away from" the screen; and (3) the "persistence" or cumulative duration of eyes on the screen. For each experimental program these data were collected for attention to the educational material as well as for attention to the humorous material. The findings of this study suggest that, under certain conditions, the voluntary choice of viewing an educational message can be measurably enhanced when the informative message is comprised of a mix of humor and education. The packaging of the humor within the educational message was significant in attracting an audience for exposure to the educational message. The density (or pacing) of the humorous segments within the educational message was the single most reliable factor in attracting viewers to turn their "eyes toward" the screen during the educational material. As the intervals without humor increased (or the humorous segments were less in number but greater in length) the frequency of eyes directed toward the screen increased. The level of difficulty of the educational message, the distribution pattern for the insertion of the humor within the educational message, and the degree of funniness of the humor had differing effects on an audience's choice to "tune in" to the educational message. Significantly more viewers turned their "eyes toward" than their "eyes away" from the television screen during easy educational material than did during difficult educational material. Neither the distribution pattern nor the degree of funniness of the humor were statistically significant factors in determining viewers' attraction to or withdrawal from the educational material. While the inclusion of humor within certain educational messages had positive effects on promoting attention to the educational messages that followed the humorous material, the maintenance of viewer attention for the upcoming educational message was not clearly shown.
Subject Area
Mass media
Recommended Citation
SCHLEICHER, MARGARET PATRICIA, "THE USE OF HUMOR IN FACILITATING VOLUNTARY SELECTIVE EXPOSURE TO TELEVISED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS" (1981). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI8110373.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI8110373