Fear Appeals | ScienceGate

Health communication strategies are at the core of both mass media campaigns and public health interventions conducted at the community level concerning the prevention of HIV/AIDS. They are often nested in complex contexts that prevent us from being able to identify the persuasive impact of a specific message. The authors attempt to account for an array of factors contributing to the persuasiveness of messages about HIV. The aim is to synthesize the psychological literature on persuasion and thus provide a conceptual framework for understanding message effects in HIV communications. This discussion concerns fear appeals, message framing, tailoring, cultural targeting, and additional factors pertaining to the message, source, and channel of the communication. Whenever possible, recommendations for further research are formulated.

Download Full-text

Special issue editorial: Fear appeals in social marketing campaigns

Psychology and Marketing ◽

10.1002/mar.20038 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 21 (11) ◽

pp. 885-887 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

John R. Rossiter ◽

Sandra Jones

Keyword(s):

Social Marketing ◽

Fear Appeals ◽

Special Issue ◽

Social Marketing Campaigns

Download Full-text

Persuading end users to act cautiously online: a fear appeals study on phishing

Information and Computer Security ◽

10.1108/ics-03-2018-0038 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 26 (3) ◽

pp. 264-276 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Jurjen Jansen ◽

Paul van Schaik

Keyword(s):

Information Sharing ◽

Fear Appeals ◽

Future Research ◽

Protection Motivation ◽

Online Information ◽

Fear Appeal ◽

Content Type ◽

Phishing Attacks ◽

Internet Users ◽

Post Test

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to test the protection motivation theory (PMT) in the context of fear appeal interventions to reduce the threat of phishing attacks. In addition, it was tested to what extent the model relations are equivalent across fear appeal conditions and across time. Design/methodology/approach A pre-test post-test design was used. In the pre-test, 1,201 internet users filled out an online survey and were presented with one of three fear appeal conditions: strong fear appeal, weak fear appeal and control condition. Arguments regarding vulnerability of phishing attacks and response efficacy of vigilant online information-sharing behaviour were manipulated in the fear appeals. In the post-test, data were collected from 786 internet users and analysed with partial least squares path modelling. Findings The study found that PMT model relations hold in the domain of phishing. Self-efficacy and fear were the most important predictors of protection motivation. In general, the model results were equivalent across conditions and across time. Practical Implications It is important to consider online information-sharing behaviour because it facilitates the occurrence and success of phishing attacks. The results give practitioners more insight into important factors to address in the design of preventative measures to reduce the success of phishing attacks. Future research is needed to test how fear appeals work in real-world settings and over longer periods. Originality/value This paper is a substantial adaptation of a previous conference paper (Jansen and Van Schaik, 2017a, b).

Download Full-text

Beyond fear appeals: Contradicting positive smoking outcome expectancies to influence smokers' implicit attitudes, perception, and behavior

Addictive Behaviors ◽

10.1016/j.addbeh.2011.11.032 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 37 (4) ◽

pp. 548-551 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Sabine Glock ◽

Dagmar Unz ◽

Carrie Kovacs

Keyword(s):

Implicit Attitudes ◽

Outcome Expectancies ◽

Fear Appeals ◽

And Behavior

Download Full-text

Joking about cancer as an avoidance strategy among US adults

Health Promotion International ◽

10.1093/heapro/dax087 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 34 (3) ◽

pp. 420-428 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Nick Carcioppolo ◽

Kevin K John ◽

Jakob D Jensen ◽

Andy J King

Keyword(s):

Colorectal Cancer ◽

Older Adults ◽

Mediation Analysis ◽

Self Efficacy ◽

Moderated Mediation ◽

Fear Appeals ◽

Fear Appeal ◽

Biological Sex ◽

Avoidance Strategies ◽

Avoidance Strategy

Summary Findings from years of research on fear appeals suggest that individuals with low efficacy utilize avoidance strategies when they perceive a significant threat—a process called fear control. Some research suggests that joking could be an avoidance strategy. The current study identifies conditions in which people are more likely to joke about colorectal cancer and explores how this behavior may be associated with screening avoidance. Older adults (N = 209) recruited from eight different worksites completed a survey measuring fear appeal constructs and enactment of colorectal cancer-related joking. Results of a moderated mediation analysis suggest that men were more likely to joke about colorectal cancer than women, particularly if they perceived significant threat but had limited self-efficacy, signifying fear control. Results support prior fear appeal research, suggesting that an increase in joking behavior concerning colorectal cancer may be indicative of screening avoidance, and describe belief-based mechanisms that explain differences between biological sex and joking.

Download Full-text

How Can E-Cigarette Fear Appeals Improve the Perceived Threat, Fear, Anger, and Protection Motivation of Young People

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.676363 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Chengzhi Sun ◽

Fangfei Wang ◽

Mengmeng Jiang

Keyword(s):

Young People ◽

Process Model ◽

Good Control ◽

Fear Appeals ◽

Smoking History ◽

Protection Motivation ◽

Fear Appeal ◽

People’S Perception ◽

Young Smokers ◽

The Impact

The lack of awareness regarding the risks of e-cigarettes and the misleading business propaganda caused an increase in the popularity of e-cigarettes among young people. The effective communication of the risks associated with e-cigarettes is an important part of current work to control their usage, and the use of fear appeals is an effective method to achieve good control. Based on the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM) and Appraisal-Tendency Framework (ATF), this article presents a 2 × 2 control experiment to test the impact of fear appeals on the perception of risk, emotions, and behavioral motivation of young people aged 35 and less. A total of 333 valid samples of adolescents and young adults were included to investigate the different response paths to fear appeals among young people of different age, sex and smoking history. The results show that high-threat, high-efficacy fear appeals are able to: (1) significantly increase young people’s perception of the e-cigarette-associated threats, (2) trigger fear and anger amongst young people, and (3) stimulate their self-protection motivation. Fear appeals do not have an impact on young people’s perception of efficacy, regardless of their level of threat and efficacy. High fear appeals can also increase young people’s perception of threat, which in turn enhances their anger and protection motivation. Furthermore, while this type of fear appeal can enhance young women’s perception of efficacy, it cannot enhance the perception of e-cigarette risks in adolescents, young men and young smokers, regardless of their level of threat and efficacy. Young non-smokers have a higher perception of the risks involved in the use of e-cigarettes compared with young smokers.

Download Full-text

A Review on Fear Appeals in Social Marketing: Setting Future Research Agenda

Global Economics Review ◽

10.31703/ger.2019(iv-iv).01 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol IV (IV) ◽

pp. 1-11

Author(s):

Farooq Ahmad ◽

Syed Ali Raza Hamid ◽

Muhammad Nawaz Qaisar

Keyword(s):

Literature Review ◽

Social Marketing ◽

Behavioral Change ◽

Fear Appeals ◽

Future Research ◽

Behavior Changes ◽

Marketing Communication ◽

Future Research Agenda ◽

Long Run ◽

Influence Behavior

In marketing as well as in social marketing communication, fear appeals have been used as persuasive tools to influence behavior change and have extensively been used for various behavioral change programs. A comprehensive literature review was conducted related to fear appeals in the domain of social marketing from scientific journals of repute. Such type of systematic literature review on fear appeals in social marketing has not been extensively conducted to set future research to set agenda for bringing sustained behavior changes. Although fear appeals have influenced behavior changes, they were not being proved effective for a longer period. The group centered approaches using the group as a unit of analysis has shown better results as compared to one-way communication based on emotional fear appeals. This research paper sets an agenda for future research using group centered and participatory paradigm to make fear appeals more effective in the long run.

Download Full-text