{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/78405"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/78405","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Appealing to fear: a meta-analysis of fear appeal effectiveness and theories","abstract":"The effects of fear appeals on attitudes, intentions, and behaviors were examined in a comprehensive meta-analysis. Studies were included if they contained a treatment group exposed to a fear appeal, a valid comparison group, a manipulation of depicted fear, a measure of attitudes, intentions, or behaviors concerning the targeted risk or recommended solution, and adequate statistics to calculate effect sizes. The meta-analysis included 127 papers (9% unpublished) yielding 248 independent samples (NTotal = 27,372) collected from diverse populations. Results showed a positive effect of fear appeals on attitudes, intentions, and behaviors, with the average effect on a composite index being fixed-effects d ̅ = 0.27. Moderation analyses based on prominent fear appeal theories showed that the effectiveness of fear appeals increased when the message depicted higher levels of fear, included efficacy statements, and depicted high susceptibility and severity. Messages were also more influential when the recommended behavior was one-time only, was self-esteem enhancing (hindering) and death was (was not) mentioned, and occurred at a delay when death was mentioned. Finally, fear appeals were more influential when the message’s audience was primarily female, from collectivist cultures, and young adult.","abstract_html":"The effects of fear appeals on attitudes, intentions, and behaviors were examined in a comprehensive meta-analysis. Studies were included if they contained a treatment group exposed to a fear appeal, a valid comparison group, a manipulation of depicted fear, a measure of attitudes, intentions, or behaviors concerning the targeted risk or recommended solution, and adequate statistics to calculate effect sizes. The meta-analysis included 127 papers (9% unpublished) yielding 248 independent samples (NTotal = 27,372) collected from diverse populations. Results showed a positive effect of fear appeals on attitudes, intentions, and behaviors, with the average effect on a composite index being fixed-effects d ̅ = 0.27. Moderation analyses based on prominent fear appeal theories showed that the effectiveness of fear appeals increased when the message depicted higher levels of fear, included efficacy statements, and depicted high susceptibility and severity. Messages were also more influential when the recommended behavior was one-time only, was self-esteem enhancing (hindering) and death was (was not) mentioned, and occurred at a delay when death was mentioned. Finally, fear appeals were more influential when the message’s audience was primarily female, from collectivist cultures, and young adult.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Tannenbaum, Melanie B"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Albarracin, Dolores","Kraus, Michael","Preston, Jesse","Carpenter, Nichelle","Vargas, Patrick T."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-07-22T22:16:59Z","date_published":"2015-07-22T22:16:59Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:26:11Z","subjects":["fear appeals","risk","health communication","meta-analysis"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2015 Melanie Tannenbaum"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/78405","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Albarracin, Dolores","Kraus, Michael","Preston, Jesse","Carpenter, Nichelle","Vargas, Patrick T."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Tannenbaum, Melanie B"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2015-07-22T22:16:59Z","2015-05","2015-04-21","2015-5"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["fear appeals","risk","health communication","meta-analysis"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2015 Melanie Tannenbaum"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/78405"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["The effects of fear appeals on attitudes, intentions, and behaviors were examined in a comprehensive meta-analysis. 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Messages were also more influential when the recommended behavior was one-time only, was self-esteem enhancing (hindering) and death was (was not) mentioned, and occurred at a delay when death was mentioned. Finally, fear appeals were more influential when the message’s audience was primarily female, from collectivist cultures, and young adult.","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2015-07-22 without embargo terms","The student, Melanie Tannenbaum, accepted the attached license on 2015-04-16 at 18:02.","The student, Melanie Tannenbaum, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2015-04-16 at 18:10.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2015-04-21 at 11:31.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #7908 on 2015-07-22 at 10:32:37","Made available in DSpace on 2015-07-22T22:16:59Z (GMT). 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