Constrain Politician Parodies to Controllables

Among negative political ads are those in which the views, personality characteristics, speech patterns, or even physical traits of the opponent are mocked. Ridicule can entertain and arouse, leading to greater social media engagement. But to what degree does that happen? asked a team of researchers at Sorbonne Business School, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, EDC Paris Business School, Paris‐Est‐Créteil University, and California State University-Los Angeles.
     They found that the answer depends on whether what’s being ridiculed is a characteristic of the politician which is in the politician’s control or not. In one of the studies, French consumers were asked their intention to share a parody which ridiculed a characteristic of a politician. The politician was Emmanuel Macron. The controllable characteristic—used in the parody with some of the study participants—was Mr. Macron’s arrogance. The uncontrollable trait—used in the parody with the other participants—was Mr. Macron being married to an older woman. These two traits were chosen because Mr. Macron had been widely derided for each.
     People expressed greater intention to share the parody when the theme was a controllable trait. Data analyses indicated the reason is that mocking an uncontrollable trait arouses moral objections in the audience. This explanation was supported by results from the researchers’ analyses of parodies of political figures which had been posted on YouTube along with readers’ comments on such parodies.
     The implication for those aiming to win impact is to avoid satire which targets uncontrollable traits of the opposing politician. There’s clear evidence doing otherwise jeopardizes the social media sharing which helps the message go viral. The researchers also warn that the backlash aroused by parodist mudslingers can easily damage the reputation of the poster.
     Parodies are ridicule packaged in humor. Humor can serve as a distraction. The laughter keeps the audience from thinking about counterarguments. But a potential problem is that what some people consider to be funny, others don’t. If the humor falls flat, all that’s left is the ridicule. Your parody risks being seen by the consumers as mean-spirited, and that can interfere with your selling appeal.
     Researchers at University of Massachusetts-Amherst demonstrated how humor differs even between the U.S. and the U.K., both of them individualistic cultures. Other research has shown how collectivist cultures—like in Japan—and family-oriented cultures—like in Mexico—come to dislike marketers who seem to depend on ridicule to make a point.

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