A content analysis of fear appeal advertising in Canada, China, and France

Abstract

We content analyzed 4155 Chinese, French, and Canadian print ads to examine how fear advertising differs across countries or cultures. Findings show that advertisers use fear appeals more frequently in Canada and China than in France. Moreover, fear appeals appear in all three countries more frequently for convenience than for shopping-type products, and more frequently for shopping than for search-type products. Beauty and personal care products, as well as drugs and medical products are more prone to fear appeals than all other product categories. However, the frequency of fear appeals in relation to the product category varies across countries. We also find variations in relation to types of fear appeals. Social and self-esteem fear appeals appear most frequently in China, while physical fear appeals are most dominant in France and Canada, and economic fear appeals most frequent in France.