Fear appeals
‘ Fear appeals ’ use images , videos , stories and other forms of information that intend to evoke the emotion of fear in the audience . They are sometimes referred to as “ scare ‘ em straight ” approaches , as the point of evoking fear is to ‘ scare ’ individuals into wanting to avoid some unpleasant consequences which are shown to result from the behaviour we are targeting . These approaches were common to Think ! campaigns , and many other interventions , for many years , although we are now seeing a shift away from this style for a number of reasons , including the fact that research has shown that it is not as effective as we might have expected .
Whilst some research has found education using fear appeals to be useful in creating attitude and behaviour change ¹, other research suggests that fear appeals may even have the opposite effect to that intended ( leading individuals to drive less safely than before they were exposed to the fear appeal ). Fear appeals have been shown to be particularly ineffective at changing intentions to behave differently in future for young males 2 .
However , when fear is generated , but generated alongside a period of ‘ fear relief ’ ( an opportunity for individuals to overcome the fear that is being felt ), and when individuals are offered practical suggestions for avoiding experiencing the threat that has been shown , fear-appeals have been found to be more successful 3 , 4 . If using education that utilises a fear-based format , it is therefore advisable to offer a period of ‘ fear relief ’ during which individuals can absorb the information about consequences and the strategies that may avoid those consequences .
We should avoid exploiting the potential of fearful information unless we also provide follow-up advice and suggestions about how that fear can be turned into effective action
Fear is a powerful but complex emotion . If you want to know more , see the list of references to research findings at the end of this section , or contact one of our Accessible Academics ( p . 151-160 ).
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¹ Hoekstra , T . and Wegman , F ., ( 2011 ). Improving the effectiveness of road safety campaigns : Current and new practices . IATSS research , 34 ( 2 ), pp . 80-86 . ² Wundersitz , L . N ., Hutchinson , T . P . and Woolley , J . E ., ( 2010 ). Best practice in road safety mass media campaigns : A literature review . Social psychology , 5 , pp . 119-186 ³ Rossiter , J . R . and Thornton , J ., ( 2004 ). Fear‐pattern analysis supports the fear‐drive model for anti-speeding road‐safety TV ads . Psychology & Marketing , 21 ( 11 ), pp945-960
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Algie , J . and Rossiter , J . R ., ( 2010 ). Fear patterns : A new approach to designing road safety advertisements . Journal of Prevention & Intervention in the Community , 38 ( 4 ), pp . 264-279 .