Fear Appeals in Health and Social Marketing: An Analysis

This essay delves into the persuasive techniques employed in advertising, specifically focusing on the use of fear appeals to influence consumer behavior. The analysis centers on two articles: one examining the application of fear in anti-speeding campaigns and the other exploring its use in promoting better health decisions related to obesity. The essay discusses the effectiveness of fear-inducing tactics, potential limitations, and ethical considerations, such as the impact of misleading manipulation techniques on participants. It highlights the importance of encouragement over fear and the role of word-of-mouth in amplifying these effects. The author reflects on how they would react as a subject in such studies, emphasizing the need for critical research and statistical analysis. Ultimately, the essay underscores the need for balanced and informed approaches in marketing and public health campaigns.

Running head: FEAR IN ADVERTISEMENTS
Fear in Advertisements
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1FEAR IN ADVERTISEMENTS
There are many factors which influence the behavior of an individual. One of such
determining factor is that of fear. This essay seeks to understand the impact of fear inducement
in trying to change the behavior of a person by making a detailed analysis of two articles.
In the article entitled “Fear appeals in social marketing: The case of anti-speeding video
advertisement" Mistakes"” as written by Giachino et al. (2017), the aspect of fear has been used
in order to prevent people from rash driving. The article warns its readers about the various
accidents that can occur as a result of exceeding over the speed limit. Similarly, the article “Fear
advertisements: Influencing consumers to make better health decisions” written by Krishnen and
Bui (2015) discusses the disadvantages of obesity amongst the people. They try to induce the
element of fear among the readers by telling them about the health problems related to obesity.
The participants in the articles were not aware of the misleading manipulation techniques
and hence they are not immune to the effects. The limitations of such fear inducting tactics is that
people might become too careful such as they might decide not to drive ever. This has adverse
consequences. If I would have been a subject in one of these studies, I would have researched
better and seen the statistics related to the incidents. The lesson to learn from these articles is that
people needs to be encouraged instead of being made afraid. Inducement of fear is generally
observed in the cases of word of mouth and they prove to be extremely effective as people take
them to be true.

2FEAR IN ADVERTISEMENTS
References:
Giachino, C., Stupino, M., Petrarulo, G., & Bertoldi, B. (2017). Fear appeals in social marketing:
The case of anti-speeding video advertisement" Mistakes". Journal of Customer
Behaviour, 16(1).
Krishen, A. S., & Bui, M. (2015). Fear advertisements: Influencing consumers to make better
health decisions. International Journal of Advertising, 34(3), 533-548.