Fear appeal messages affect accessibility of attitudes toward the threat and adaptive behaviors

Roskos‐Ewoldsen, David R.; Yu, Jessy H.; Rhodes, Nancy

doi:10.1080/0363452042000228559

Cited by 109 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Still, there is again very little empirical support for this theoretical assumption (Arthur and Quester, 2004;Keller and Block, 1996). For instance, Roskos-Ewoldsen et al (2004) found that there was no interaction effect between perceived threat and perceived efficacy on attitude accessibility. They concluded that a message stressing the efficacy of adaptive behavior results in a more positive attitude towards this behavior, regardless of the level of threat.…”

Section: Theoretical Framework and Hypotheses Developmentmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…One of the reasons for the lack of a theoretically assumed negative effect of 'too high' fear levels in empirical studies may be that a 'fear overdose' may rarely be triggered by a threat appeal ad (LaTour, 2006). Further, emotional arousal, such as evoked fear, can as such determine adaptive responses (Janis, 1967;Roskos-Ewoldsen et al, 2004). Indeed, previous research has indicated that experiencing a fear emotion in itself biases one's preference toward options involving a low risk (such as developing adaptive attitudes and behavior) (Raghunathan and Pham, 1999).…”

Section: Theoretical Framework and Hypotheses Developmentmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…This response can be both cognitive and/or affective. Threat appeals may trigger perceived threat or perceived response efficacy that leads to high message involvement and elaboration (Roskos-Ewoldsen et al, 2004;Witte, 1992). In addition, threat appeals may evoke fear.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Fear, threat and efficacy in threat appeals: Message involvement as a key mediator to message acceptance

Cauberghe

Pelsmacker

Janssens

et al. 2009

Accident Analysis & Prevention

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Section: Theoretical Framework and Hypotheses Developmentmentioning

confidence: 87%

Section: Theoretical Framework and Hypotheses Developmentmentioning

confidence: 98%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Fear, threat and efficacy in threat appeals: Message involvement as a key mediator to message acceptance

Cauberghe

Pelsmacker

Janssens

et al. 2009

Accident Analysis & Prevention

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“…Recently, studies began to challenge this assumption (e.g., Gore & Bracken, 2005;Muthuswamy et al, 2009;Nabi et al, 2008;Roskos-Ewoldsen, Yu, & Rhodes, 2004). Nabi et al (2008) proposed a notion of "implicit" fear appeals, in which mere mention of the threat should evoke past cognitions about the threat in the audience and result in an emotional reaction of fear.…”

Section: Disregard For Previous Emotions and Cognitions About The Issuementioning

confidence: 99%

The Extended Parallel Process Model

2011

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This article examines constructs, propositions, and assumptions of the extended parallel process model (EPPM). Review of the EPPM literature reveals that its theoretical concepts are thoroughly developed, but the theory lacks consistency in operational definitions of some of its constructs. Out of the 12 propositions of the EPPM, a few have not been tested explicitly and not a single one received unequivocal empirical support. This article proposes alternative operationalization for some of the constructs and examines some assumptions of this theory, such as additive relationship between the constructs, the role of time and issue of thresholds, and disregard for the existing state of the audience. Finally, the role of the EPPM as a potential foundation for a general theory of negative emotional appeals is addressed. Keywords behavioral theories, health communications, injury prevention/safety, measurement development, risk communicationScaring people to motivate them to change their behavior has been practiced for millennia. Systematic empirical investigation of fear appeals, on the other hand, is less than 60 years old (Dillard, 1994). Since the 1950s, several theories have been proposed to explain the processing and effects of fear appeal messages, and the extended parallel process model (EPPM; Witte, 1992) is one of the latest developments in this area. The EPPM integrates previous research on fear appeals in an attempt to answer a long-standing question of why fear appeals sometimes fail and sometimes succeed.The EPPM has many strong points that make it appealing to both scholars and practitioners of public communication campaigns. It was able to reconcile contradictory predictions and findings of its predecessors, it has an elegant and easy to understand structure, it is useful in guiding many decisions of public communication campaigns, and it served as a foundation for more than 50 empirical studies (Witte, Girma, & Girgre, 2003).But has the EPPM been supported to the extent it is assumed? A closer examination of the EPPM researchpresented in this article-demonstrates that contrary to the common beliefs, none of the EPPM's propositions received unequivocal support, some important assumptions remained unexamined, and the same constructs were measured in various ways in different studies making it difficult to pinpoint the explanation for disparate findings. The EPPM can still illuminate a great deal about responses to fear appeals if additional and more rigorous tests of the theory are undertaken with consideration for the diverse findings of past research.This article is organized in five sections. First, the EPPM is introduced through the brief history of its theoretical development. Second, the conceptual and operational definitions of the 11 constructs are presented. Third, research on each of the 12 propositions is summarized. Fourth, the assumptions underlying the EPPM are discussed. Finally, the last section provides recommendations for extending the model into the foundation for the coverin...

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“…In breast cancer prevention campaigns, for example, it has been reported that fear appeal messages affect accessibility of attitudes toward the threat and adaptive behaviors that, in turn, lead to behavioral intentions to perform breast self-examinations (Roskos-Ewoldsen, Yu, & Rhodes, 2004). While most fear appeal models focused on explaining the process associated with message acceptance, Witte (1992) suggested that it is critical to explore both the process that may facilitate message acceptance and the process that may lead to message avoidance.…”

Section: The Extended Parallel Process Model (Eppm)mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Spiritual Health Locus of Control in Breast Cancer Information Processing between African American and Caucasian Women

Leshner

Cheng

Song

et al. 2006

Integr Med�Insights

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Spirituality seems to be an important cultural factor for African American women when thinking about their health. It is, however, not clear how spiritual health locus of control (SLOC) impacts health-related outcomes in the context of health message processing models, such as the Extended Parallel Process and the Risk Perception Attitude framework. Using a survey of African American and Caucasian women in the context of breast cancer, the role of SLOC and its interactions with perceived effi cacy and risk was examined on four health outcomes-message acceptance, talking about breast cancer, information seeking, and behavioral intentions. For African American women, SLOC had a positive impact for talking about breast cancer through an interaction with risk and effi cacy such that women high in both SLOC and perceived effi cacy, but low in perceived risk were more likely to talk about breast cancer than when effi cacy was low. However, high SLOC exacerbated the negative effects of effi cacy on talking about breast cancer regardless of the risk level for Caucasian women. SLOC also had a positive infl uence on attending to breast cancer information in the media for African American women. SLOC played no role in attending to breast cancer information for Caucasian women. Interestingly, SLOC played no role for African American women on behavioral intentions, however, it worked to decrease behavioral intentions for Caucasian women when risk was high.

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Fear appeal messages affect accessibility of attitudes toward the threat and adaptive behaviors

Cited by 109 publications

References 38 publications

Fear, threat and efficacy in threat appeals: Message involvement as a key mediator to message acceptance

Fear, threat and efficacy in threat appeals: Message involvement as a key mediator to message acceptance

The Extended Parallel Process Model

The Role of Spiritual Health Locus of Control in Breast Cancer Information Processing between African American and Caucasian Women

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