Media Watch

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access
Open Access Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Restricted Access Subscription Access

Sharing Fear via Facebook: A Lesson in Political Public Relations


Affiliations
1 University of Miami, Florida, United States
2 University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, United States
     

   Subscribe/Renew Journal


Our study compared the use of fear messages on Facebook by Barack Obama and Mitt Romney during the 2012 U.S. presidential elections. Results show that written fear messages embedded in photographs posted on Facebook by both candidates affected the degree to which those photographs were shared. More specifically, photographs containing written fear messages were shared more often than photographs not containing written fear messages. Furthermore, while the challenging candidate, Mitt Romney, used more photographs containing fear messages, the increase in shares was consistent across candidates. Implications regarding information distribution within communities, public relations practitioners specializing in political campaigning and society as a whole are discussed.

Keywords

Content analysis, social media, 2012 election, Protection, Motivation theory
Subscription Login to verify subscription
User
Notifications
Font Size


  • Althaus, S. L. (1998). Information effects in collective preferences. American Political Science Review, 545-558.

  • Anderson, C. L., Agarwal, R. (2010). Practicing safe computing: a multimedia empirical examination of home computer user security behavioral intentions. MIS Quarterly, 613-643.

  • Axelrod, L. J., Newton, J. W. (1991). Preventing Nuclear War: Beliefs and Attitudes as Predictors of Disarmist and Deterrentist Behavior. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 29-40.

  • Bartels, L. M. (1996). Uninformed votes: Information effects in presidential elections. American Journal of Political Science, 194-230.

  • Brader, Ted. (2005). Striking a responsive chord: How political ads motivate and persuade voters by appealing to emotions. American Journal of Political Science, 388–405.

  • Brosius, Hans-Bernd, Donsbach, Wolfgang, Birk, Monika. (1996). How do Text-Picture Relations Affect the Informational Effectiveness of Television Newscasts? Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 180-195.

  • Calantone, R. J., & Warshaw, P. R. (1985). Negating the effects of fear appeals in election campaigns. Journal of Applied Psychology,, 627-627.

  • Cialdini, R. B. (2001). Influence: Science and practice (Vol. 4th edition). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon. Easterling, D. V. & Leventhal, H. (1989). Contribution of Concrete Cognition to Emotion: Neutral Symptoms as Elicitors of Worry about Cancer. Journal of Applied Psychology, 787-796.

  • Eppright, D. R., Tanner, J. F., Hunt, J. B. (1994). Knowledge and Ordered Protection Motivation Model: Tools for Preventing AIDS. Journal of Business Research. 30: 13-24.

  • Floyd, Donna L., Prentice-Dunn, Steven, Rogers, Ronald W. (2000). A Meta-Analysis of Research on Protection Motivation Theory. Journal of Applied Psychology, 407-429.

  • Fruin, D. J., Pratt, C., Owen, N. (1992). Protection Motivation Theory and Adolescents’ Perceptions of Exercise. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 55-69.

  • Hallahan, Kirk. (1999). Seven Models of Framing: Implications for Public Relations. Journal of Public Relations Research, 205-242.

  • Hariman, Robert, Lucaites, John Louis. (2002). Performing Civic Identity: The Iconic Photograph of the Flag Raising on Iwo Jima. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 363-392.

  • Kulhavy, Raymond, W., Stock, William, A., Woodward, Kristina, A., & Haygood, Robert, C. (1993). Comparing Elaboration and Dual Coding Theories: The Case of Maps and Text. The American Journal of Psychology, 483-498.

  • Lang, P. J. (1984). Cognition in Emotion: Concept and Action. In C. E. Izard, J. Kagan, & R. B. Zajonc (Eds.), Emotions, Cognition and Behavior (pp. 192-226). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

  • Lau, R. R., & Pomper, G. M. (2002). Effectiveness of negative campaigning in U.S. senate elections. American Journal of Political Science, 47-66.

  • Lau, R. R., Sigelman, L., & Rovner, I. B. (2007). The effects of negative political campaigns: A metaanalytic reassessment. Journal of Politics, 1176-1209.

  • Lazarsfeld, P. F., Berelson, B., & Gaudet, H. (1965). The people’s choice: how the voter makes up his mind in a presidential campaign, by Paul F. Lazarsfeld [et al.]. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.

  • Lloyd, J. (2008). Positively negative: the impact of negativity upon the political consumer. International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing,, 301–314.

  • Neuwirth, Kurt, Dunwoody, Sharon, Griffin, Robert J. (2000). Protection Motivation and Risk Communication. Risk Analysis, 721-734.

  • Nielsen (2012). The state of the media: The social media report, Q3. New York, NY. Nielsen InCites O’Keefe, D. J. (1990). Persuasion: Theory and research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.

  • Olmstead, K., Mitchell, A., & Rosenstiel, T. (2011). Where people go, how they get there and what lures them away. Navigating online news. Retrieved from the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism.

  • Ortony, A. & Turner, T. J. (1990). What’s Basic about Basic Emotions? Psychology Review, 315-331.

  • Ray, Michael L., and William L. Wilkie. (1970). Fear: The potential of an appeal neglected by marketing [in English]. Journal of Marketing, 54–62.

  • Rimal, Rajiv N., Real, Kevin. (2003). Perceived Risk and Efficacy Beliefs as Motivators of Change. Human Communication Research, 370-399.

  • Rogers, Ronald W. (1975). A Protection Motivation Theory of Fear Appeals and Attitude Change. The Journal of Psychology, 93-114.

  • Rogers, Ronald W., and Steven Prentice-Dunn. (1997). Protection Motivation Theory. In Gochman, David S. (eds) Handbook of Health Behavior and Research I: Personal and Social Determinants. 113–132. New York, NY: Plenum Press.

  • Stanley, M. A., Maddux, J. E. (1986). Cognitive Processes n Health Enhancement: Investigation of a Combined Protection Motivation and Self-Efficacy Model. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 101-113.

  • Tanner J. F., Hunt, J. B., Eppright, D. R. (1991). The Protection Motivation Model: A Normative Model of Fear Appeals. Journal of Marketing, 36-45.

  • USA-Today/Gallup. (2012, December). Economy still top problem in U.S., but less so than in past. Retrieved January 16th 2013, from http://www.gallup.com/poll/159434/economy-top-problemless-past.aspx

  • Witte, Kim. (1992). Putting the Fear Back Into Fear Appeals: The Extended Parallel Process Model. Communication Monographs, 329-349.

  • Witte, K., & Allen, M. (2000). A meta-analysis of fear appeals: Implications for effective public health campaigns. Health Education & Behavior, 27 (5), 591-615.

  • Zaluzec, J. A. (2010). The use of fear appeals in political advertisements an analysis of the 2004 and 2008 the use of fear appeals in the use of fear appeals in political advertisements: An analysis of the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections. Unpublished master’s thesis, American University.

  • Zeldes, G. A., & Fico, F. (2010). Broadcast and Cable News Network Differences in the Way Reporters Used Women and Minority Group Sources to Cover the 2004 Presidential Race. Mass Communication and Society, 512-527.


Abstract Views: 518

PDF Views: 0




  • Sharing Fear via Facebook: A Lesson in Political Public Relations

Abstract Views: 518  |  PDF Views: 0

Authors

Jan Boehmer
University of Miami, Florida, United States
Michael B. Friedman
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, United States

Abstract


Our study compared the use of fear messages on Facebook by Barack Obama and Mitt Romney during the 2012 U.S. presidential elections. Results show that written fear messages embedded in photographs posted on Facebook by both candidates affected the degree to which those photographs were shared. More specifically, photographs containing written fear messages were shared more often than photographs not containing written fear messages. Furthermore, while the challenging candidate, Mitt Romney, used more photographs containing fear messages, the increase in shares was consistent across candidates. Implications regarding information distribution within communities, public relations practitioners specializing in political campaigning and society as a whole are discussed.

Keywords


Content analysis, social media, 2012 election, Protection, Motivation theory

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.15655/mw%2F2015%2Fv6i1%2F55371