Fear-Arousing Persuasive Messages

December 3, 2020 - Franklin J. Boster and Paul Mongeau

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The effects of including fear-arousing material in a persuasive mes­sage have been debated frequently (Sussman, 1973).1 The ante­cedents of modern debate on this question reside in paradoxical experimental results. Some experiments show that there is more conformity to message recommendations when the amount of fear in the persuasive mes­sage is high than when it is low (for example, see Beck & Davis, 1978). Other experiments report data in which there is more conformity to message recom­mendations when the amount of fear in the persuasive message is low than when it is high (see Janis & Feshbach, 1953). Still other experiments present data that demonstrate that the amount of fear in the persuasive message has no impact on the extent to which a listener conforms to the recommendations of the persuasive message (see Wheatley & Oshikawa, 1970).

Moreover, there is no consensus among persuasion scholars as to how these conflicting data are to be reconciled. Some explanations suggest that messages high in fear-arousing content are more effective in obtaining con­formity to message recommendations than are messages low in fear-arousing content (for example, see Leventhal, 1970). Other explanations suggest that the opposite relationship holds (see Miller, 1963). A third class of explanations posits that appeals low in fear and high in fear are relatively ineffective, while appeals with a moderate amount of fear-arousing content are relatively effec­tive (see Janis, 1967). Yet another class of explanations argues that fear interacts with other variables, so that in some cases high fear messages are more effective than low fear messages, but in other cases low fear messages are more effective than high fear messages (see Leventhal, 1971).

This monograph addresses two issues. First, the available data are re­viewed, and conclusions are drawn concerning the effect of incorporating fear-arousing material into a persuasive message. Second, implications of these conclusions for a theory of fear appeals are drawn. As a necessary preliminary step, the major explanations of fear appeal effects are sketched.