Size Up the Customer Before Joking Around

As I walked into Linn’s Easy As Pie Café in Cambria, California, my wife Irene was by my side. It was our first time ever there. We saw right away that the menu board above the counter had a few unexpected, intriguing choices for a quick lunch.
     When the three customers in front of us finished ordering and walked away to pick a table, Irene and I were still staring up at the menu board. The fellow behind the counter broke the silence. “Sir,” he said.
     I looked at him and saw he was gently wagging his finger up and down while pointing at Irene. “This one is much better looking than the one you brought in here with you last week.”
     Irene was complimented. I was thoroughly amused. I’ll remember Michael and make it a point to drop into the Easy As Pie Café next time I’m in Cambria.
     Michael was taking a bit of a chance. My guess is that he sized up Irene and me as we were standing there. Different things make different people laugh. Students of the psychological inventory named the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, in which each individual is characterized by a combination of four letters, say that if an INTJ type tells a joke to an ENTJ type, just that one letter difference in type could easily lead to the story falling flat.
     If a retailer starts kidding around with consumers they don’t know well, the consumers might not get the joke. This could have consequences which are not amusing at all for the retailer’s business. It’s a particular danger when the audience hasn’t been alerted that the retailer’s kidding around. Everybody wants their dignity respected, so if the humor takes the form of teasing a customer, you might lose that sale along with any opportunity to make a future sale.
     Researchers at University of Cincinnati and St. Vincent College in Pennsylvania found that humor in retailing is most effective when it is novel and unexpected, as was true with Michaels’s quip. A joke which isn't immediately understood can still be effective. Research says the shopper's mental energies are taken with trying to figure out the humor, and this distracts the customer from thinking about reasons not to buy. So humor can be useful in moving the indecisive customer to the cashier.
     Still, to avoid offending, size up the customer before joking around.

Click below for more:
Use Humor in Unexpected Ways
Alert Consumers When You’re Kidding Around