Fear-inducing and positive image strategies in health education campaigns

Abstract

This paper attempts to present an insight into studies of fear-inducing and positive image health education campaigns. The paper reviews existing theoretical issues relevant to the topic and examines the findings of studies that compare fear-inducing and positive image health education campaigns. Available evidence from literature highlights some of the shortcomings of fear-inducing health education campaigns and suggests the need to employ strategies which emphasise positive and attractive lifestyle images. How ever, there is evidence that fear-inducing advertisements could have an important role, especially in terms of influencing certain people, and in certain health-related communications. Finally, it is concluded that a) there is a great deal of potential to develop comparative studies to find what type of images would work best, and b) there is a need to understand more of the process behind the effect of positive and negative appeals.

Healthy viewing: the reception of medical narratives

“…Such a positive approach has been found more fertile than fear‐inducing methods which have had poor overall results (Montazeri, McGhee and McEwen 1998). Furthermore, didactic exhortations, more often than not, fail to alter people's habits because they tend to be perceived as moral lessons and/or social control which prompt rejection ( e.g.…”