A Study to Analyze the Discrete Use of Fear Appeal by Advertisers in Indian Advertisements and their Impact on Viewers

A fear appeal posits the risks of using and not using a specific product, service, or idea such that if you don't "buy," some particular dire consequences will occur. That is, fear appeals rely on a threat to an individual's well-being that motivates him or her toward action, e.g. increasing control over a situation or preventing an unwanted outcome. However, the scope of fear appeal is not limited in using it alone. It has been observed that fear appeal is used subliminally along with other appeals playing the lead role in various advertisement.

The purpose of this paper is to review and examine the fear appeal hidden in various advertisements which are classified under different appeals such as Humour, Patriotism, self esteem etc and their impact on purchase behaviour of the viewers. In particular, this paper includes the following sections: introduction, definition of a fear appeal, study of a few advertisements showing subliminal use of fear appeals, and summary.