Following science on social media: The effects of humor and source likability

Sara K. Yeo; Michael A. Cacciatore; Leona Yi Fan Su; Meaghan McKasy; Liane O’Neill

doi:10.1177/0963662520986942

Following science on social media: The effects of humor and source likability

Sara K. Yeo, Michael A. Cacciatore, Leona Yi Fan Su, Meaghan McKasy, Liane O’Neill

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Science communicators have been encouraged to use humor in their online engagement efforts. Yet, humor’s effectiveness for engaging people with science remains an open question. We report the results of an experiment designed to elicit varied levels of mirth in respondents, which was positively associated with perceived likability of the communicator and motivation to follow more science on social media. Furthermore, mirth and perceived likability serially mediated the effect of the experimental manipulation on motivation and factual science knowledge served as a moderator. This indicates that, while humor might be an effective means of reaching audiences, downstream effects are likely to vary depending on individuals’ knowledge.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	552-569
Number of pages	18
Journal	Public Understanding of Science
Volume	30
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662520986942
State	Published - Jul 2021

Keywords

Twitter
engagement
humor
mirth
science
social media

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Communication
Developmental and Educational Psychology
Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)

Online availability

10.1177/0963662520986942

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abstract = "Science communicators have been encouraged to use humor in their online engagement efforts. Yet, humor{\textquoteright}s effectiveness for engaging people with science remains an open question. We report the results of an experiment designed to elicit varied levels of mirth in respondents, which was positively associated with perceived likability of the communicator and motivation to follow more science on social media. Furthermore, mirth and perceived likability serially mediated the effect of the experimental manipulation on motivation and factual science knowledge served as a moderator. This indicates that, while humor might be an effective means of reaching audiences, downstream effects are likely to vary depending on individuals{\textquoteright} knowledge.",

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AU - McKasy, Meaghan

AU - O’Neill, Liane

N1 - Funding Information: The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This material is based on work supported by a funding incentive seed grant from the University of Utah. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Utah. Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2021.

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AB - Science communicators have been encouraged to use humor in their online engagement efforts. Yet, humor’s effectiveness for engaging people with science remains an open question. We report the results of an experiment designed to elicit varied levels of mirth in respondents, which was positively associated with perceived likability of the communicator and motivation to follow more science on social media. Furthermore, mirth and perceived likability serially mediated the effect of the experimental manipulation on motivation and factual science knowledge served as a moderator. This indicates that, while humor might be an effective means of reaching audiences, downstream effects are likely to vary depending on individuals’ knowledge.

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Following science on social media: The effects of humor and source likability

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Online availability

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