{"id":4900,"date":"2019-11-26T11:17:35","date_gmt":"2019-11-26T16:17:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/cogblog\/?p=4900"},"modified":"2020-02-07T11:28:20","modified_gmt":"2020-02-07T16:28:20","slug":"rhyming-for-a-reason-why-rhyming-slogans-are-more-effective-in-communicating-big-ideas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/cogblog\/2019\/11\/26\/rhyming-for-a-reason-why-rhyming-slogans-are-more-effective-in-communicating-big-ideas\/","title":{"rendered":"Rhyming for a Reason: Why Rhyming Slogans are More Effective in Communicating Big Ideas"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve been to a college or interacted with a college student, you know how demanding the academic requirements are. Would you believe me if I said, \u201cC\u2019s get diplomas\u201d? Sure. That makes sense, after a minute of thinking\u2026 But what if I had said, \u201cC\u2019s get degrees\u201d? Boom. Got it. You\u2019ve probably heard that one before, and there\u2019s a reason why. The second statement communicates the main idea quicker than the first, even though both convey the same message.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Rhyme as Reason Effect (also called the Eaton-Rosen Effect) is the phenomenon that occurs when a person believes that a saying is more accurate when it rhymes. By contrast, a saying that means the same thing, but does not rhyme, is judged as less accurate. Like the example above. A second example that you\u2019ve probably heard before is the saying, \u201cWhat sobriety conceals, alcohol<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cA drunk mind speaks a sober heart\u201d \u2014 Jean-Jacques Rousseau<\/p><\/div>\n

reveals.\u201d This is judged as more accurate than, \u201cWhat sobriety hides, alcohol reveals,\u201d or \u201cWhat sobriety conceals, alcohol shows,\u201d even though all three statements are saying the exact same thing. So now you may be asking, why does this happen? Is it just because rhyming phrases are more fun to say, or is something else going on? Let\u2019s think about this.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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The first thing to know is that humans have a distinct preference for rhyming. In a study done by Rhodes and Kelley (2003), participants were given nonword-word and word-nonword pairs to study (for example: a nonword-word pair would be PINGLE-SINGLE). Then, during a test, participants were asked to recognize if they had seen the pairs before. The researchers found that participants often \u201cremembered\u201d seeing a rhyming pair that hadn\u2019t been presented to them at all. The experimenters attributed this to one of two things. The first possibility is a familiarity effect<\/a><\/span>, or a preference for things you are more familiar with. And, the second possibility is the fact that rhyming words are processed more fluently (quickly) than non-rhyming words.<\/span><\/p>\n

One reason for fluency is that the way you process the first word is under similar enough conditions that it prompts (cues) you to think of the second. So, in a situation where the second word doesn\u2019t rhyme (like \u2018diplomas\u2019), you\u2019re less likely to remember that word because it won\u2019t be processed in the same way. However, when you have a situation where the second word does rhyme (like \u2018degrees\u2019), the two words become linked in memory, which increases the accuracy of your recall. Think back to the example at the beginning and consider which statement comes to mind first. You probably thought of \u201cC\u2019s get degrees\u201d first. This is because \u2018C\u2019s\u2019 and \u2018diplomas\u2019 don\u2019t rhyme, but \u2018C\u2019s\u2019 and \u2018degrees\u2019 do. And, when you remember something more easily, you think about it more often and are more likely to believe that it\u2019s true<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

This cuing and recognition process is also automatic. In other words, it happens quickly and without much, if any, input from you. By contrast, something that is a controlled process takes time and energy to think through. One example of this is learning to read.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cLet\u2019s start at the very beginning\u2026. When you read you begin with ABC\u201d \u2014 \u2018Do Re Mi\u2019 from the Sound of Music<\/p><\/div>\n

When you first learn to read, the process is controlled and slow. You are sounding out letters and words. But, once you get good at it, the process becomes automatic. This means you are able to read an entire blog post like this one quickly and without much effort. Anyways\u2026. The fact that recognizing rhyming words is so automatic means that rhymes are primed (cued) in our memories to be associated with each other more quickly, especially when the rhymes appear one after the other (Niemi, Vauras, & von Wright, 1980) .\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So, how does this rhyming association impact catchy little phrases like \u201cC\u2019s get degrees\u201d or \u201cAn apple a day keeps the doctor away?\u201d It\u2019s been demonstrated that people judge rhyming slogans to be more likeable, more memorable, more persuasive, and more trustworthy than non-rhyming slogans (Filkukov\u00e1 & Klempe, 2013). This effect was less noticeable for social advertising, such as human rights issues or environmental activism campaigns, than it was for product advertising, such as ads for Coke or cars. Researchers contribute this to the fact that people often already have an opinion on social issues and would be less likely to be persuaded to change their opinion by a slogan. This explains why we hear slogans and words of wisdom that rhyme and immediately judge them to be more accurate than if we heard the same message without the rhymes.<\/span><\/p>\n

The implications of the Rhyme as Reason effect reach far and wide. I\u2019ve already touched on the fact that advertising slogans that rhyme are judged as more persuasive than those that don\u2019t. Political slogans work the same way. For instance, does \u201cNo taxation without representation\u201d sound familiar? And, we all know plenty of sayings that offer words of wisdom that have been passed down over many, many years, such as: \u201cA friend in need is a friend indeed,\u201d \u201cBirds of a feather, flock together,\u201d and, of course, \u201cC\u2019s get degrees.\u201d In fact, now that you are aware of this effect, don\u2019t be surprised if you start noticing rhyming phrases <\/span>everywhere.<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>It\u2019s super annoying!<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve thrown a lot at you here\u2026 how does all this demonstrate that rhyming slogans are more effective in communicating big ideas? Well, since rhyming phrases are processed more fluently, cue other rhymes, and are judged as more likeable than non-rhyming phrases we like to keep them around. Think back to when you were a kid. Did you ever hear the<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

“Oscar Mayer has a way with B-O-L-O-G-N-A” – 1970’s Oscar Mayer bologna ad<\/p><\/div>\n

Oscar Mayer Bologna<\/a> song<\/span>? (If not, check out the video). It rhymes! Not to mention, Oscar Mayer is still a huge brand name in bologna, 46 years later.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rhymes. We hum them, we repeat them, they\u2019re catchy! Rhyming phrases become familiar to us and start to spread to others. Through rhyming slogans we end up with little phrases that communicate big ideas.<\/span><\/p>\n

So now you know, there\u2019s a reason why we rhyme!<\/span><\/p>\n

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References<\/span><\/p>\n

Filkukov\u00e1, P. & Klempe, S. H. (2013). Rhyme as reason in commercial and social advertising. <\/span>Scandinavian Journal of Psychology<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>54<\/span><\/i>, 423\u2013431. <\/span>https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/sjop.12069<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Niemi, P., Vauras, M., & von Wright, J. (1980). Semantic activation due to synonym, antonym, and rhyme production. <\/span>Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 21<\/span><\/i>(2), 103-107. https:\/\/doi-org.colby.idm.oclc.org\/10.1111\/j.1467-9450.1980.tb00347.x<\/span><\/p>\n

Rhodes, M. G., & Kelley, C. M. (2003). The ring of familiarity: False familiarity due to rhyming primes in item and associative recognition. <\/span>Journal of Memory and Language, 48<\/span><\/i>(3), 581-595. <\/span>https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/S0749-596X(02)00534-X<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve been to a college or interacted with a college student, you know how demanding the academic requirements are. Would you believe me if I said, \u201cC\u2019s get diplomas\u201d? Sure. That makes sense, after a minute of thinking\u2026 But what if I had said, \u201cC\u2019s get degrees\u201d? Boom. Got it. You\u2019ve probably heard that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9118,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[266316],"tags":[130382,54559,129789],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/cogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4900"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/cogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/cogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/cogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9118"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/cogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4900"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/cogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4900\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5275,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/cogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4900\/revisions\/5275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/cogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/cogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/cogblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}