February 7, 2010
Fear is something most of us would rather not experience. Especially when it comes to our health. Yet, so much communication about health aims to make us fearful. Why is that?
Over time, research has shown that fear can be motivating. Because we don’t want to be fearful when it comes to our health, we may take action. That is, if we know how and believe the action will actually benefit our health.
The problem with too many fear appeals aimed at our health is that they do not fulfill the task of telling us what action to take, why the action will be effective, and how we can develop the skills or gain the resources to take the action.
Take the example of skin cancer. Most of us know that too much exposure to the sun can cause this deadly disease. We also know that some sun or UV exposure helps our body make vitamin D. So how much sun is too much sun? What if we like to stay healthy by being outdoors in the sun? What if our job requires us to be in the sun? An effective fear appeal communicates about these issues and doesn’t just make us fearful about being in the sun.
So if communication about health makes you feel fearful, look for the response recommended to reduce the threat. If the message doesn’t contain that information, it’s not a very good message. But at least you will know that what to look for to control the danger posed in the message and your fear as well. A response to the threat and ways you can carry it out.
Until next time, talk about health with the ones you love. It really might be a matter of…life and death.
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As a strategic communication major, I think it is interesting to see how the media uses fear appeals to motivate the public. While the organizations and agencies that sponsor many of these PSAs may have good intentions, I think that sometimes they don’t recognize that their advertisements can have a negative effect also. I took an advertising course in which we studied many of these ads. Specifically, many of the anti-tobacco ads we examined were potentially harmful to the organizations sponsoring the ads. Instead of helping those who already smoke find ways to quit smoking, they often stigmatized smokers as nasty and unsympathetic to others’ health. While their often graphic ads may succeed in discouraging non-smokers to avoid smoking, I don’t think they are successful in providing resources and encouragement for those who already smoke and need help quitting. When these smokers are stigmatized, they may discredit the organziations sponsoring the ads, and subsequently maintain their unhealthy habits. I think the anti-tobacco agencies need to take another look at their ads and change them to target both non-smokers and smokers, because smokers need help too!
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