Abstract
The lack of awareness regarding the risks of e-cigarettes and the misleading business propaganda caused an increase in the popularity of e-cigarettes among young people. The effective communication of the risks associated with e-cigarettes is an important part of current work to control their usage, and the use of fear appeals is an effective method to achieve good control. Based on the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM) and Appraisal-Tendency Framework (ATF), this article presents a 2 × 2 control experiment to test the impact of fear appeals on the perception of risk, emotions, and behavioral motivation of young people aged 35 and less. A total of 333 valid samples of adolescents and young adults were included to investigate the different response paths to fear appeals among young people of different age, sex and smoking history. The results show that high-threat, high-efficacy fear appeals are able to: (1) significantly increase young people’s perception of the e-cigarette-associated threats, (2) trigger fear and anger amongst young people, and (3) stimulate their self-protection motivation. Fear appeals do not have an impact on young people’s perception of efficacy, regardless of their level of threat and efficacy. High fear appeals can also increase young people’s perception of threat, which in turn enhances their anger and protection motivation. Furthermore, while this type of fear appeal can enhance young women’s perception of efficacy, it cannot enhance the perception of e-cigarette risks in adolescents, young men and young smokers, regardless of their level of threat and efficacy. Young non-smokers have a higher perception of the risks involved in the use of e-cigarettes compared with young smokers.
Highlights
E-cigarettes are claimed to be mainly “tar-free, low-nicotine” and “helpful for smoking cessation” in China’s previous advertisements (Zhang et al, 2019), making 71% of Chinese young people believe that e-cigarettes are safer than traditional cigarettes (People’s Daily Online, 2019)
We systematically examine young people’s responses and emotional perceptions of fear appeals that are associated with e-cigarettes, and explore the impact of these fear appeals on their behavior
On the path of perceived threat, among the four groups of fear appeals, only a high-threat, high-efficacy fear appeal significantly improved the perceived threat of e-cigarettes experienced by young people (p = 0.045 < 0.05, t = 2.01, β = 0.134)
Summary
E-cigarettes are claimed to be mainly “tar-free, low-nicotine” and “helpful for smoking cessation” in China’s previous advertisements (Zhang et al, 2019), making 71% of Chinese young people believe that e-cigarettes are safer than traditional cigarettes (People’s Daily Online, 2019). Due to the convenience of online shopping, misleading business propaganda and the lack of awareness regarding the risks associated with e-cigarettes, the total number of e-cigarette users in China has reached 10 million, mainly consisting of young people (Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019). Given these facts, the public awareness of the risks associated with e-cigarettes needs to be increased in order to control and reduce the harmful effects of e-cigarettes on young people. This article aims to expand the theoretical perspective of fear appeals and provide suggestions to control the use of e-cigarette
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