Persuasive Communication - How Audiences Decide. 2nd Edition

326 Understanding Emotional Decision Making

Emotional Appeals and Intensifi ers

Emotional Appeals

When audiences encounter emotional appeals, they may fi nd themselves making decisions based on

their emotions as opposed to reason. Emotional appeals may be presented as either words or images

and consist of photographs, videos, or verbal messages.^175 Successful emotional appeals elicit real

emotions from their audiences. For example, a sentence such as “Animal research causes unneces-

sary suffering to animals” can be used as an emotional appeal that elicits a real emotional response

in readers.^176 Similarly, television commercials can make emotional appeals that elicit real emotional

responses in viewers.^177 Emotional appeals can either produce the same emotional response, such as

a feeling of anger while listening to an angry speaker’s call for revenge, or a different but comple-

mentary emotional response, such as a feeling of pity when hearing an emotional plea for help.^178

Emotional appeals that are able to elicit emotions can have a signifi cant impact on audience

decision making. For example, fear-arousing product warning labels have been found to signifi -

cantly affect users’ safety behavior.^179 Fear-arousing health warnings infl uence patients to heed

their doctor’s advice.^180 Appeals to other negative emotions can impact audience decisions as well.

A study of emotional appeals made during an anti-littering campaign in Oklahoma City found

that the campaign succeeded because it was able to attach the negative emotions of shame and

embarrassment to littering.^181 Appeals to positive emotions can also be effective. Leaders who

make inspirational appeals are more likely to get the support of their followers.^182 In a study of

group decision making, members of policy-making groups rated inspirational appeals as persuasive

as rational appeals and more persuasive than pressure tactics, ingratiation, exchange tactics, or other

persuasive techniques.^183

Ads that feature emotional appeals can make a big impact on consumers’ decisions. Cigarette ads

designed to increase the positive emotions associated with smoking decrease consumers’ perceptions

of risk.^184 The joy some television commercials elicit increases consumers’ intentions to purchase the

products advertised.^185 A study of the effectiveness of TV commercials for frequently purchased prod-

ucts fi nds that emotional ads are much more likely to increase sales than neutral ones,^186 with ads that

elicit positive emotions being the most likely to produce a signifi cant sales increase. Consumers’ emo-

tional responses to ads are also important predictors of their attitudes toward the advertised brand.^187

U.S. consumers routinely encounter ads designed to appeal to pride, fear, joy, sadness, guilt,

love, anger, and pity.^188 The most studied emotional appeal is the appeal to fear, although there is

increasing interest in other emotional appeals including appeals to happiness,^189 sadness,^190 pride,^191

disgust,^192 shame,^193 and guilt.^194 Advertisers commonly use appeals to fear to promote products

such as insurance, toothpaste, deodorants, mouthwash, and detergents. Fear appeals promoting these

types of products make social threats and are more effective in persuading potential consumers than

fear appeals that make physical threats.^195 Public service announcements also use appeals to fear to

discourage smoking, drinking and driving, and participation in unsafe sex. As fear appeals increase

in fearfulness, they tend to become increasingly persuasive.^196

A fear appeal is more effective when the audience feels vulnerable to the threat it warns of.^197

A fear appeal is also more effective when the audience believes it can help them avoid the threat’s

negative consequences.^198 For example, earthquake preparedness messages are more effective when

they describe an earthquake’s threat and explain how to avoid an earthquake’s dangers,^199 giving

specifi c instructions on when, where, and how to take action.^200 The most effective fear appeals

present such instructions immediately after presenting the threat.^201

Although increasing the fearfulness of a threat usually makes a fear appeal more persuasive, this

is not always the case. If the audience does not believe it can cope effectively with the threat, then

increasing the threat’s fearfulness tends to produce a boomerang effect.^202