Document Type
Journal Article
RIS ID
34107
Citation
Algie, Jennifer and Rossiter, John R., 2010, Fear patterns: a new approach to designing road safety advertisements, Journal of Prevention & Intervention in the Community, 38, 264-279.
http://ro.uow.edu.au/era/1182
Abstract
This research studies fear patterns within fear appeal anti-speeding television commercials. A pattern of fear is the sequence of fear arousal and fear reduction, if any, that is felt by the viewing audience when exposed to a fear appeal advertisement. Many road safety advertisers use fear appeals, such as shock advertising, that result in fear arousal, leaving the viewer feeling extremely tense. The moment-to-moment reactions of young drivers to 12 road safety commercials are gauged using a dynamic, temporal measure of fear. The fear patterns generated from each ad are analyzed and a new perspective on creating fear appeal road safety advertisements, with an emphasis on fear-relief, fear-partial relief, and fear-only patterns, is discussed.