THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SOCIAL ADS TARGETING DRUNK DRIVING
"Social advertisements with threat appeals are widely used to reduce drunk driving. However, research on the effectiveness of such advertising is limited. This study aimed to evaluate, what emotions cause threat appeal ads targeting drunk driving and whether these ads change risky driving attitudes. 41 students (17.1 percent males; mean age 20.9 years; 53.7 percent had a driving license) voluntarily participated in the experimental study. Every participant was randomly assigned to one of three groups: two experimental (watched one of two TV ads with threat appeals) or control group (watched car wash ad with no threatening stimuli). After watching one of three ads, all participants were asked to evaluate seven emotions and to fill in Driving Attitude Questionnaire (DAQ). Results revealed that both road safety threat appeal ads targeting drunk driving did not arouse any stronger fear emotions or differences in driving attitudes compared to control group. Both experimental groups didn’t differ in emotions or attitudes as well. No difference in emotions and attitudes was found when comparing the reaction of participants who have seen the specific ad before the experiment and those who haven’t. The fact of being a licensed driver was also not related to the level of reported emotions or attitude differences in both experimental groups. The study results reveal that the possible effectiveness of threat appeal ads from ongoing social marketing campaigns on reducing drunk driving is questionable and further studies are needed."