Mandate for fear appeal research: a clearer perspective

The fear appeal is one of the most prevalent types of persuasion evident in society. A great percentage of advertising bases its success on an appeal calculated to elicit anxiety on the part of the listener (Miller, 1963, p. 117). Children have been reared on its admonitions. Nearly every American is by now familiar with the Surgeon General\u27s Warning. The recent AIDS epidemic has prompted a highly consequential use of this appeal. If the effectuality of everyday fear persuasions can be left to chance, choice, or Mother Nature, this last lethal onslaught demands immediate attention from the communication community. An exac1 effective means of disseminating such information must be found