EMOTIONAL APPEALS 225Fear
Fear appeal advertising (or threat-based advertising) refers the consumer to a certain type of
risk (threat) that he or she might be exposed to and which he or she usually can reduce by
buying (e.g. insurance) or not buying (e.g. not drinking when driving) the product advertised
(coping effi cacy). Typical risks that might be used in a fear appeal are:^91
z Physical. Th e risk of bodily harm, oft en used for burglar alarms, toothpaste, analgesics, etc.
An example would be ‘When are you going to install an alarm? Aft er they break in?’
z Social. Th e risk of being socially ostracised, oft en used for deodorants, dandruff shampoo,
mouthwash, etc.
z Time. Th e risk of spending a lot of time on an unpleasant activity while the activity can be
performed in less time. During the introduction period of dishwashers, messages frequently
read ‘Do you realise that most people spend X years of their life washing the dishes?’
z Product performance. Th e risk that competitive brands do not perform adequately. Dyson
vacuum cleaners are promoted as having no bag, which makes them the only cleaner to
maintain 100% suction, 100% of the time.
z Financial. Th e risk of losing a lot of money, typically used by insurance companies.
z Opportunity loss. Pointing out to consumers that they run the risk of missing a special
opportunity if they do not act right away. For example, the Belgian mobile phone provider
Proximus ran a campaign with the following message: ‘Subscribe now to Proximus, and
pay nothing until April.’
Are threat appeals eff ective? Most studies point in an affi rmative direction. Several studies
confi rm that threat appeals are capable of sensitising people to threats and of changing their
behaviour.^92 For example, a fairly recent study shows that these appeals succeed in lowering
alcohol consumption in students.^93Threat appeals are ‘persuasive messages designed to scare people by describing the terrible things that will happen
to them if they do not do what the message recommends’.^94 Fear appeals and threat appeals are often incorrectly
used as synonyms. However, threats illustrate undesirable consequences from certain behaviours (threat appeal);
fear is a potential emotional response of an individual to a threat.^95 Threat appeals are often used as persuasive
messages in public service announcements or social profit campaigns, for instance anti-smoking, HIV, speeding,
drunk driving, etc., but also commercial companies such as banks and insurance companies occasionally use threat
appeals. The objective is always to increase the involvement of people with an issue or a problem by presenting it
as threatening, and to offer a credible solution, such as the adaptation of certain behaviour, or purchasing a certain
brand.
In earlier models of how threat appeals work, fear is considered as the only factor that influences adaptive
behaviour. These ‘Drive models’^96 attribute the effectiveness of threat appeals to evoked fear. Drive models claim
that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between the fear level of a message and attitudes and behaviour. In
other words, moderate fear appeals work best: some fear is needed to motivate people to reach a negative drive
state. However, the fear has to be able to be reduced (drive reduction). If fear is too high, maladaptive behaviour
will follow as a result of ‘reactance’, the motivation to resist any perceived threat to one’s freedom to make up one’s
own mind about an issue.^97 The ‘ Terror Management Theory’^98 also offers a potential explanation of why high fearRESEARCH INSIGHT
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