Fear-based advertising appeals : assessing execution styles of social marketing campaigns

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: South Africa faces an epidemic, namely, HIV/Aids, which has grown substantially over thelast ten years. It can be regarded as the country with the most alarming statistical figuresconcerning HIV infection rates. Even though South Africa is a country under scrutiny, giventhe high prevalence of HIV/Aids, this epidemic also constitutes as a global problem, giventhat an approximate number of 7400 individuals are infected with HIV every day. Thenumber of Aids related deaths has risen from 100 000 in 1999 to over 400 000 in 2009.Given the concern, and in an effort to combat the fast spread of HIV/Aids, the SouthAfrican government has implemented various educational and support programs.Marketing efforts are related to the above topic, given that various marketing-relatedpractices have been implemented by non-profit organisations in an attempt to createawareness of HIV/Aids and the related risks. These marketing communication programsare referred to as social campaigns. HIV/Aids social campaigns involve communicationstrategies which attempt to persuade the target market to ensure that they adhere to safesexualpractices, by making individuals aware of the threat that infection poses to theirlifestyles. Various campaigns also explore how an individual can ensure safe sexualbehaviour.Empirical research stretching back to 1975 has provided marketers with guidelines as towhat social communication campaigns, concerning threats to human health, shouldinclude regarding an emotional, cognitive aspect. Evidence exists for the need to includeemotional cues that would stimulate medium to high levels of fear, rather than low levels offear, in order to effectively persuade an individual to adhere to a protective behaviouralpattern. No research has been conducted in order to conclude whether one type ofexecution style or specific advertising content would result in significantly increasedintentions to behave in the recommended protective manner.This study investigated whether different execution styles would result in significantlydifferent levels of attitude, fear and behavioural intention. This was done by sampling agroup of 450 respondents who participated in an experimental study. Three executionstyles were tested by means of a post-test self administered questionnaire including items related to variables of the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT). The PMT explores theeffects that fear appeal would have on attitude change. Not only was it found that differentexecution styles result in significantly different levels of the mentioned variables, it wasalso found that one execution style is significantly more effective in evoking these cognitiveresponses in one race group as compared to another. The empirical results of this studyreveal that by discontinuing mass communication, and, in preference, segmenting themarket towards which HIV/Aids social campaigns are currently aimed, based on race,these awareness campaigns would be more effective in inducing protective sexualbehaviour.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University