Fear Appeals in Advertising

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Advertisers use fear appeals in their commercials to emphasize negative results that can happen unless the consumer changes an attitude or behavior. The use of fear appeals is widespread.

Advertisers use fear appeals to encourage social policy issues such change to healthier habits, stopping smoking, engaging in regular exercise, using contraception, eating a balanced diet and drinking without driving (Pope 2). Commercials also use fear appeals to influence social risks associated with one’s success and opposite sex, career and others (Solomon 334).

Fear appeals work when advertisers present a moderate amount of fear and a solution to the problem is present in the advertisement. Too much amount of fear does not result into change since the audience tends to deny the existence of such threats as a way to rationalize the danger.

A thorough elaboration of fear may interfere with the communication of the intended change behavior to the audience. The audience may think that the advertisement is not for him or her and pays less attention to it. Use of fear works better when the sources are highly credible.

A weak threat is equally ineffective. This can occur has a result of insufficient demonstration of the risky consequences of involving in the behavior.

For instance, the use of scary methods in getting teens to stop their consumptions of alcohol or drugs is not that effective. Teenagers simply tune out the message or deny the relevancy of the message. The use of social threat is a more effective strategy in adolescent than use of scary strategy (Baron 21).

Fear appeals should not be confusing to the audience. The message and emotional response should be consistent. Greater fear may not necessarily results into greater persuasion.

Different people react distinctively to the same amount of fear. Advertisers know that strongest threats have less effect on their perceived audience than moderated fear. Therefore, a more concrete approach to fear appeals is necessary before advertisers make a definite conclusion concerning the effects of fear appeals on consumer behavior.

In the YouTube video advertisement, Do not Drink and Drive, uploaded by Torn Sue in October 17^th 2009, the advertisement is shocking but gets the point home. The advertisement is using fear appeal to highlight effects of drinking and driving, and subsequently to make drunk drivers change their habit.

Drinking and driving is a social issue. The advertiser uses kids playing to show the negative effects of drinking and driving. Even the kids are not so secure from drunk-drivers. People commended the commercial for its effective delivery of the message to the target audience.

However, not everyone appreciated the commercial advertisement. Some critics argued that the message is vague since the advertisement failed to show the driver drunk. The fact that the driver looked sideways and was humming along the radio failed to convince the audience.

They argued that many people do this and get accidents even if they are sober. Therefore, drinking was not a factor to a resulting accident. They also criticized the exaggeration the commercial used to show a car flipping over a fence simply by hitting another car. To them, it is simply being reckless.

The magazine Women & Guns shows American gun makers use fear of women on self and home protection to influence purchase behavior of women. Gun manufacturers now make varieties of guns to their female clients. The magazine features negative outcomes related to lack of guns among women. Critics argue that gun makers capitalize their sales to women due to their fear (Jennings 2).

Consumer Behavior focuses on the everyday activities of consumers. The concepts illustrate on how actions marketers take influence the world. Solomon and other authors interested in the study of consumer behavior capture aspects of consumers such as buying, having and being (Brody 20).

They state that consumer behavior is not only about buying things, but also how having or not having things affects one’s life, and how what we possess influences the way we feel about ourselves and others i.e. one’s state of being. The concept of consumer behavior contributes to the social world experience among consumers due to consumptions of products and services (Otker 30).

Consumer Behavior views different categories of a consumer. A consumer as an individual considers the consumer at the micro level. This examines how the individual gets information from the environment and how a he or she uses these pieces of information to form and modify his or her attitudes about products and oneself.

The concept also looks at a consumer as a decision-maker (Punj 35). This part explores how the consumer uses the information they have to make decisions about consumptions activities.

Consumer Behavior examines how consumers also function as a part of social structure in a given marketing environment. These include influence on various social groups, identity, social class and varied age groups.

Finally, consumer behavior also examines the impact of marketing on mass culture. The view is on expression of cultural values, lifestyles, products relations to cultural myths and values. The text includes some perspectives of globalization and postmodernism.

The theory of consumer behavior pays attention to impacts and informing roles that consumers have on multicultural dimensions, marketing opportunities and marketing pitfalls. Marketers have come up with various categories of market segments to fit their various products and services.

Works Cited

Baron, Robert. Psychology: The Essential Science. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 1989.

Brody, Jane. “Notions of beauty transcend culture, new study suggests.” New York Times 14 April 2003: 20. Print.

Jennings, Genie. “Making a Difference.” Women & Guns 01 September 2011: 2.Print.

Otker, Ton. “The highly involved consumer: A marketing myth?” Marketing and Research Today Vol. 22.5(1990): 30-36. Print.

Pope, Kyle. “High-tech marketers try to attract women without causing offense.” Wall Street Journal Vol. 12.25 (2000): 2. Print.

Punj, Girish. “Presearch decision making in consumer durable purchases.” Journal of Consumer Marketing Vol.17.31(2005): 35. Print.

Solomon, Michael. Consumer Behavior. New Jersey: Prentice Hall Europe, 2006.

Sue, Torn. “Do not Drink and Drive.” YouTube, 17 July 2010.

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Fear Appeals in Advertising

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