Fear Appeals: Advances Through Meta-Analysis

• In Event: New Research on Fear Appeals in Health Contexts

Abstract

This manuscript provides a systematic narrative review of the 11 fear appeal meta-analyses conducted from 1984 to present. The preponderance of evidence indicates that threatening communication has small effects on attitude, intention, and behavior, and that there are a few factors that can further enhance the effectiveness of fear appeals, sometimes greatly. Most notably, fear appeals are most effective when they (1) focus on both components of threat—i.e., severity and susceptibility, and (2) focus on both components of efficacy—i.e., self-efficacy and response-efficacy. In spite of this clear pattern of findings, two-thirds of fear appeal studies include just a single component of threat (i.e., just severity or susceptibility, but not both), and two-thirds of fear appeal studies include just the threat component (i.e., there was no efficacy component). The theoretical, methodological, and practical implications of these findings are discussed, as recommendations for future research and meta-analyses in this area.

Authors

• Anthony J. Roberto, Arizona State U

• Yanqin Liu, Arizona State U