“This is your brain…. This is your brain on drugs,” says the actor as they drop an egg into a frying pan and begin to scramble it. These types of ads are often designed to create a reactionary response to motivate a particular behavior. In this case, it was to motivate behaviors for non-drug use. We’ve written on emotional advertising before but we wanted to do a deeper dive into each type of emotional advertising. This week we focus on fear appeal. A theory was developed by a woman named Kim Witte called Extended Parallel Process Model that explains why and when people follow health recommendations. Something called the danger control response is ideal for changing behavior and occurs when the threat is high and the individual’s sense of efficacy is greater than the threat. If the individual’s self-efficacy is lower than the perceived threat then the person will show a defensive response to the fear control ad. You saw examples of these types of ads during the pandemic with the “get vaccinated” campaigns. To sum it up, EPPM states that the perceived threat MUST be higher than the person’s self-efficacy to work. Also, the audience must be understood to create an effective fear appeal campaign. It needs to make people think, “Oh wow, that could be me.” Here are a few examples of the types of fear appeal ads that are possible.
Personal hygiene
Cancer risk
Therapy
Drunk driving
Drugs and tobacco
Since fear appeal can lead to negative feelings and anxiety, care should be used in an ethical manner that focuses on the betterment of people’s lives. Here are some guidelines to follow when creating a fear appeal advertisement.
Introduce the threat
Demonstrate severity
Describe with vivid pictures or words
Use solid references
Show the risk to the viewer
Focus on the audience here
Point out similarities between viewers and those in the ad
Personalize it to your audience
Show the effectiveness of the solution
Show viewers they can use solutions in their lives
A fear appeal can take the form of FOMO, fear of change, fear of death, fear of risks, and fear of failure. Now that you understand what makes a proper fear appeal ad you can use this to your advantage. Keep it personal and keep it ethical.
