Popular Culture Review Vol. 5, No. 1, February 1994 | Page 140

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Popular Culture Review

A 1990 public relations package front QVC further illustrates
QVC audience members appreciation:
It is such a pleasure doing business with QVC. The
quality is excellent and the prices can't be beat. I like
the convenience, too, because I hate the hassle when I
go to town to shop.
It is pleasant and entertaining to have the QVC
program on. We feel like we know all of you and trust
your work on the presentations. No hurry-hurry high
pressure hype!
Audience response is also initiated by the use of the third
persuasive strategy, humor. Historically, humor has been used to
release emotions, facilitate communication, build interpersonal
relationships, share common experiences, reduce anxiety and defuse
hostile situations. Humor can facilitate conununication, build and/or
strengthen interpersonal relationships and reduce anxiety all at the
same time (McGhee, 1979; Graham & Rubin, 1987; Derks &
Berkowitz, 1989; Graham, Papa, & Brooks, 1992). In a buyer-seller
situation such as QVC, the use of humor encourages the buyer to relax
while on the air, relate personal experiences, foster a good feeling
about the host by reducing the perceived social distance between
themselves and a television "celebrity," feel confident about the
product, and feel assured that their satisfaction is guaranteed.
Overall, the caller is put at ease by the host's humor and is
encouraged to like the host and QVC and, therefore, to buy and like
QVC products.
Humor is tra