Fear Messages Research Articles

Digital intermediaries in pandemic times: social media and the role of bots in communicating emotions and stress about Coronavirus

COVID-19 impacted citizens around the globe physically, economically, socially, or emotionally. In the first 2 years of its emergence, the virus dominated media in offline and online conversations. While fear was a justifiable emotion; were online discussions deliberately fuelling it? Concerns over the prominent negativity and mis/disinformation on social media grew, as people relied on social media more than ever before. This study examines expressions of stress and emotions used by bots on what was formerly known as Twitter. We collected 5.6 million tweets using the term “Coronavirus” over two months in the early stages of the pandemic. Out of 77,432 active users, we found that over 15% were bots while 48% of highly active accounts displayed bot-like behaviour. We provide evidence of how bots and humans used language relating to stress, fear and sadness; observing substantially higher prevalence of stress and fear messages being re-tweeted by bots over human accounts. We postulate, social media is an emotion-driven attention information market that is open to “automated” manipulation, where attention and engagement are its primary currency. This observation has practical implications, especially online discussions with heightened emotions like stress and fear may be amplified by bots, influencing public perception and sentiment.

Roles of parasocial relationship with eco-celebrities, motivation attribution, and message framing in virality of climate information on social media

Grounded in literature on attribution theory, framing, and information sharing, this study addresses the process and behavioral consequences of celebrity advocacy for climate change mitigation on social media. An experimental design (N = 693) examined how parasocial relationship (PSR) with celebrities was related to information virality of celebrity climate change messages on social media, as well as whether perceived motivations of celebrities' climate advocacy functioned as a mediator. The motivations examined were labeled affective (i.e., motivated by genuine environmental concern) and calculative (i.e., the ulterior motive of image promotion). In addition, the study explored how level of fear in message framing impacted information virality of celebrity climate messages. Social media users with higher PSR attributed higher levels of affective motivations for celebrities' advocacy, and stronger affective motivations were subsequently related to a greater likelihood of retweeting and replying to celebrities’ climate messages. Affective motivation attribution was a significant mediator in the relationship between PSR and message virality. Those with higher PSR attributed lower levels of calculative motivations for celebrity advocacy. However, perceived levels of calculative motivations were not related to likelihood of retweeting and replying behaviors. In addition, high fear messages were more effective than low fear messages in promoting the likelihood of retweeting and replying. These findings suggest that celebrity climate change tweets were more effective when the celebrities had a stronger bond with audiences and were seen as affective in their motivations, and when a higher level of fear was used to frame environmental topics.

Shared Decision Making in Asthma Treatment: Using Motivational Communication to Elevate Your Consultations

The extent to which patients are adherent to their medication regimen is critical for achieving good asthma control, preventing exacerbations, and optimizing the likelihood that patients can lead full and productive lives. Knowing this, physicians might perceive that their role is to convince their patients to comply with their prescribed medicines using educational or persuasive advice-giving strategies that focus on the health benefits of treatment compliance and the negative health consequences of non-compliance. However, evidence suggests that evoking fear of negative consequences is a poor motivator for both the adoption, and long-term maintenance, of good health behaviors such as medication adherence. In an effort to make the maladaptive behavior the ‘less desirable choice’, physicians often inadvertently become associated with the fear messages they share (through classical conditioning) and the negative emotions they elicit (through operant conditioning). This may result in physicians themselves becoming aversive to their patients, leading to patients disengaging from the therapeutic relationship and becoming resistant to treatment recommendations. In fact, treatment success depends not on the imperative to convince and control patient behavior (which defines compliance), but on the willingness to collaborate with the patient to co-construct a treatment plan that they agree with and want to follow (which defines adherence). The key takeaway is to recognize that non-collaborative communication is ineffective for behavior change and may actually be counterproductive, if not harmful.

Falling Into the Same Hole: Leaving Cigarette, Approaching E-Cigarette

Effective communication regarding the risks associated with electronic cigarettes is a crucial part of efforts to control their usage, and incorporating elements of fear is an effective method to achieve proper regulation. This research, utilizing content analysis methodology, examined three online news articles from Indonesian news portals: Kompas.com, IDNTimes.com, and Detik.com. The study aimed to describe how online news conveys the dangers of using electronic cigarettes using the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM). The research method employed was content analysis. EPPM explains how people manage the fear evoked by threat messages. There are two key factors that can explain how individuals respond to fear messages. The first factor is the perception of threat, consisting of the severity and vulnerability to the threat. The second factor is the perception of efficacy, consisting of response efficacy and self-efficacy. The research findings indicate that online news coverage prioritizes the perception of threat. Conversely, the aspect of efficacy perception still needs to be applied in reporting the dangers of electronic cigarettes. These results are also influenced by ethical codes, journalistic principles, and cultural influences.

The Effects of Emotion, Spokesperson Type, and Benefit Appeals on Persuasion in Health Advertisements: Evidence from Macao.

Enhancing public awareness for epidemic prevention is crucial for safeguarding public health. This experimental study investigated the effectiveness of a combined approach involving three persuasive elements in public health advertising. Specifically, the study examined the interplay between emotional appeals (fear messages versus efficacy messages) and spokesperson type on the public's response to health announcements. The results demonstrated that fear messages were more persuasive when conveyed by real human spokespersons (versus animated spokespersons), whereas efficacy messages were more acceptable when conveyed by animated spokespersons (versus real humans). Furthermore, the study revealed that the impact of emotional appeals and spokesperson type is moderated by benefit appeals (self-benefit or other-benefit). The joint effects of these persuasive variables on individuals' intention to adopt preventive measures indicated that the interactions significantly differed across the two types of benefit appeal. Taken together, the findings represent a pioneering contribution to the field of health communication by comparing the persuasive effects of different combinations of emotional appeals, spokesperson types, and benefit appeals on public behavior. These findings offer practical guidance for public communicators to design more appropriate health advertisements based on the results of this study, thereby enhancing public acceptance of disease prevention measures.

Falling Into the Same Hole: Abandoning Cigarettes, Approaching E-Cigarettes

Effective communication regarding the risks associated with electronic cigarettes is a crucial part of efforts to control their usage, and incorporating elements of fear is an effective method to achieve proper regulation. This research, utilizing content analysis methodology, examined three online news articles from Indonesian news portals: Kompas.com, IDNTimes.com, and Detik.com. The study aimed to describe how online news conveys the dangers of using electronic cigarettes using the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM). The research method employed was content analysis. EPPM explains how people manage the fear evoked by threat messages. There are two key factors that can explain how individuals respond to fear messages. The first factor is the perception of threat, consisting of the severity and vulnerability to the threat. The second factor is the perception of efficacy, consisting of response efficacy and self-efficacy. The research findings indicate that online news coverage prioritizes the perception of threat. Conversely, the aspect of efficacy perception still needs to be applied in reporting the dangers of electronic cigarettes. These results are also influenced by ethical codes, journalistic principles, and cultural influences.

Agenda-setting in policies related to high-risk sexual behaviours, stimulants, and alcohol abuse in Iranian adolescents

BackgroundThis research article retrospectively analyses the agenda-setting approach of policies concerning high-risk sexual behaviours, stimulant and alcohol abuse among Iranian adolescents.MethodsThis qualitative case study policy analysis involved analysing 51 national documents and conducting interviews with 49 policy-makers and executives. Purposive sampling with a snowball strategy and semi-structured interviews were used. The data was analysed using the framework analysis method, with Kingdon’s multiple streams framework serving as the analytical framework.ResultsThe study has identified the confluence of several factors, including the problem stream, the policy stream and the political stream. Within the problem stream, several factors contributed, such as the prevalence of high-risk behaviours, strong scientific evidence on these behaviours, changes in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission patterns, increased statistics of poisoning and deaths related to alcohol abuse, and the visit of Iran’s supreme leader to the slums of Mashhad city. The policy stream has two periods of denial and acceptance. The denial period includes considering these high-risk behaviours to be the consequences of western culture, emphasis on the religious aspects and sinfulness of these behaviours, resisting the prevalence of anomalous behavioural patterns, abstinence and religious obligation of chastity, and avoiding ethical corruption. The acceptance period includes adolescents training, fear messages, promotional and cultural activities, parent training, school staff training, providing psychiatric services for withdrawal, counselling and reference to receive specialized services. The political stream involves global attention towards non-communicable diseases and high-risk behaviours, and the significant impact of preventing these behaviours during adolescence on the health status of society. Also, the supreme leader’s attention to social harms, and the establishment of the National Committee for Prevention and Control of Alcohol, have played significant roles.ConclusionsWhile the problem stream helped to highlight the problem and increase policy-makers’ attention, the politics stream played a significant role. Despite international evidence on the effectiveness of training in sexual issues in reducing high-risk behaviours, it did not succeed in being added to the agenda. The policy stream was heavily influenced by ideology and the political parties in power, affecting evidence-based policy-making. In countries with an ideological approach, the political stream plays a vital role in setting problems on the agenda.

CRYPTO‐MANIA: How fear‐of‐missing‐out drives consumers’ (risky) investment decisions

AbstractThe cryptocurrencies (cryptos) market has undergone rapid development in the last years. Although this market is highly volatile and has frequently crashed, consumers show continued interest as well as widespread possession of such assets. Therefore, this research explores the mechanisms underlying consumers’ engagement in crypto trading. The results of five studies including eight experiments reveal that externally evoked fear‐of‐missing‐out (FOMO) appeals influence consumers’ investment decisions and that this effect is mediated by affective processes and moderated by impulsivity. The results further demonstrate that FOMO appeals lead consumers to repeated investment decisions, even if prior losses have been incurred. Finally, the findings suggest that the effects of FOMO can be mitigated via communication strategies (i.e., fear messages). The results provide notable implications for academics and policymakers concerned with consumers’ crypto engagement.

Fear Message and Adoption of Barrier Measures: A Study of COVID 19 in the Cameroonian Population

Fear appeals have long been a means of persuasion to promote favorable health behaviors. In the case of COVID-19 in particular, the mere presence of this epidemic seems to have the psychological consequence of fear in many individuals. Resorting to fear appeals becomes an adjunct in the fight against this disease, which is characterized by uncertainty despite the vaccine proposals that litter the horizon. The purpose of this paper is to examine the variables that may promote the adoption of barrier measures related to COVID-19. To accomplish this, the researchers have conducted an online survey and processed the resulting data via SPSS.21 and Amos software. The results have shown that perceived efficacy, self-efficacy, and fear messages based on cultural practices are relevant for promoting the adoption of recommendations against COVID-19. In contrast, repeated fear messages and government statistics are not found to be very effective. On this basis, it is to be recommended that persuasive communication actors focus on fear messages in relation to the cultural aspects to which the population is much more attached. They should amplify communication about compliance with anti-Covid-19 barrier measures.

MOTIVATING CHANGE IN OLDER ADULTS: MOTIVATIONAL CIGARETTE SMOKING CESSATION MESSAGE TESTING

Abstract Cigarette smoking remains the leading preventable cause of death and disability in the U.S., resulting in ~480,000 deaths annually. Older adults who smoke bear a disproportionate weight of the health consequences of smoking, including cancer, mortality, and the greatest health-related fear of older adults: dementia. Compared to younger adults, older adults who smoke are half as likely to make a quit attempt, but more likely to stay quit using evidence-based treatments. Research suggests the increased risk of dementia among people who currently smoke may motivate adults ages >50 to quit smoking, particularly if given a clear/actionable strategy. Research also suggests Fear-based messages may perform differently than Hope-based messages. 820 adults (ages 50–80) without dementia who smoke, completed an online survey evaluating time-matched messages (randomly assigned between-subjects: Control Nf266, Fear of dementia Nf274, Hope from quitting Nf280) on motivation and intentions to quit smoking. Participants’ demographics were Mage=61.1 years (SD=7.4), 48.0% cisgender women, 66.6% White, 23.3% Black. Mann-Whitney U Tests were use to examine change scores for each variable due to non-normal distributions. Compared to control message (water ad), the Fear message showed greater increase in motivation to quit U(Ncontrol=266, Nfear=274)=30391, z=-3.33, p=.001. The Hope message did not differ from the control or Fear message (p’s>.05). Intention to quit did not differ between messages (p’s>.05). A Fear-based message highlighting that smoking increases the risk of developing dementia, motivated quitting more than a control message. Future work should examine the feasibility, acceptability, and behavioral impact of this motivational message in healthcare settings.

Migration information campaign through music: The effect of Kofi Kinaata’s highlife song on young people in Ghana

Since 2014 over 2 million people have arrived at the shores of Europe through irregular crossing. This has created huge socio-economic consequences for the European people. In a bid to solve this unprecedented migrant crisis, the European Union and its member states have implemented migration information campaign (MIC) as part of a remote border control strategy to curb irregular migration. In Ghana, Kofi Kinaata was selected as a goodwill ambassador and his song, entitled ‘No Place Like Home’ is part of a broader advocacy programme that was implemented in West Africa to reduce irregular migration. This study seeks to investigate the effects of Kofi Kinaata’s song on the migration intention of young people in Ghana. The study is a qualitative descriptive study involving sixteen participants in the Cape Coast Metropolis in Ghana. The study revealed that young people with the ambition of migrating irregularly are already aware of the fear messages used by sponsors of MICs, though they still want to travel through the irregular way. It is therefore recommended that investment in remote border control by European countries should focus more on reducing poverty and creating jobs in migrant source countries since these are the key factors driving irregular migration. Immigration policies by EU countries and other migrant receiving countries should also be relaxed making room for alternative affordable and safe pathways to migration. This article has also called on governments in migrant source countries to strengthen their institutions to deal with poverty and regulate migration. This will go a long way to curb the menace of irregular migrants in Europe and elsewhere.

Differential effects of psychological distress on mitigation and vaccination: A public health conundrum.

CDC-recommended mitigation behaviors and vaccination status were assessed in an online sample (N = 810; ages 18–80). Results were consistent with a differential distress hypothesis positing that whereas psychological distress, which is induced in part by social deprivation, interferes with mitigation behaviors involving social distancing, it motivates vaccination, in part because it, in turn, can increase social interaction. Age modulated these effects. Despite the greater risk of severe consequences, older adults not only showed less distress, but compared to younger participants with equivalent levels of distress, the older adults showed less effect of distress on both social distancing and vaccination status. Together these findings highlight a conundrum faced in public health messaging. Traditional “fear messages” may be less effective for older adults, who are most in danger, whereas in younger adults, the distress induced by fear messages may motivate vaccination but diminish mitigation behaviors needed to prevent subsequent “breakthrough” infections.

Learning to Become Smart Radicals: A Regenerative Lens on the Potential for Peace and Reconciliation through Youth and Education Systems

Media coverage and foreign policy around the globe often spread messages of fear about the possible radicalization of the world's growing youth population. More nuance was brought into these debates in 2015 by UN Security Council Resolution 2250 and the subsequent Global Study on Youth, Peace, and Security (Simpson 2018), while specific attention was directed at the potential of education to support young people's agency for peacebuilding. In this reflective piece, I aim to bring a fresh perspective to current education in emergencies thinking and offer insights into how a regenerative approach to education can help reshape it to prepare the younger generations to respond effectively to peacebuilding and to the related "wicked challenges." I bring together two existing conceptual frameworks—the 4Rs (Novelli, Lopes Cardozo, and Smith 2017) and Tomaševski's 4As (2005; see also Shah and Lopes Cardozo 2019)—that are directly relevant to the education in emergencies field. Building on this conceptual work, I adopt a regenerative lens on reconciliation and engage a law of three framework to encourage a deeper understanding of education's transgressive potential to inspire alternative, reconciliatory paths toward peacebuilding. I will invite and encourage you, the reader, to apply these regenerative conceptual explorations to your own experience. The aim of this conceptual exploration is to inspire the development of "smartly radical" questions; to support research, policy, and practice design that is more critically informed and consciousness driven; and, finally, to support the transformative potential of education systems and stakeholders to serve younger generations more effectively and enable them to respond to "glocal" challenges in ways that are mindful, conscious, and effective.

The Weight of Words: A Mixed Methods Study to Understand Indian Doctors’ Perspectives and Experiences of Patient Communication

Background: Effective doctor communication can lead to increased treatment adherence and improved self-management among individuals living with diabetes. Yet, there is limited research in India which examines how doctors communicate, especially in terms of verbal and nonverbal communication. Aims: (1) To examine communication in clinic (verbal, nonverbal and basic content) among Indian doctors specialized in diabetes and endocrine care, and (2) to explore doctors’ styles of verbal and nonverbal communication. Methods: Using a mixed methods design, a survey containing quantitative (n=834) and qualitative (n=648) elements was filled out by doctors specialized in the fields of diabetes and endocrinology in India. Questions in the quantitative section included questions such as addressing patients’ illness-related concerns, acknowledging challenges of using insulin, and non-verbal behaviours. The qualitative section focussed on elaborating some responses made to the quantitative section, such as questions about explaining the cause of illness, listing words and phrases that may potentially impact patients, and explaining why the patients need to be initiated on insulin. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis, respectively. Results: The findings of the quantitative study showed that the majority of the doctors (i) always greeted their patient as they entered the room (43.2%), (ii) addressed the risk of developing diabetes with patients’ siblings/children (87.9%), (iii) always acknowledged the challenges of using insulin (42.8%), and (iv) never asked patients’ experiences at the end of the consultation (31.9%). All common communication cues were rated as extremely important; eye contact (48.7%), tone of voice (41.5%), body language (39.6%), and words and phrases (41.8%). The qualitative findings revealed that doctors preferred to use verbal communication such as using authoritative language, educating patients using facts, analogies and behavioural information, employing empathetic language on occasion. Doctors also reported using negative words that portrayed fear, blame and disengagement in order to promote adherence. Discussion and Conclusion: The findings suggest that doctors rely on verbal rather than nonverbal communication when interacting with patients, with fear messages being a favoured means of ensuring adherence. It is possible that this may be because, while recognizing the value of nonverbal methods, doctors lack training in using these techniques in communication. Therefore, developing a communication skill training program for Indian doctors focussed on empathic and nonverbal communication can help to improve consultation and patient outcomes (e.g., adherence, patient satisfaction).

Homeoprophylaxis

We live in interesting times, bombarded from all sides by messages of fear and impending doom. Quite regularly we are all going to die from an infectious disease. Regular as clockwork it is ‘La Grippe’, the flu that this year will be terrible, as was predicted last year and every year. Then an assortment of exotic ones: Zika, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), with our old friend measles popping in, and now we are in the middle of Covid19.

The Effects of Fear Appeals and Message Format on Promoting Skin Cancer Prevention Behaviors among College Students

This study tested the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM) by examining how fear mediated the effects of threat on individuals’ assessment of risk, which was neglected in many fear appeal studies. Second, this study treated efficacy as an existing perception, and explored the effects of varying levels of threat and efficacy on individuals’ behavioral intention. Furthermore, this study examined whether message format, such as narratives, played a role on individuals’ behavioral intention. Implications for the EPPM and health message development were discussed.

The effect of varying danger controllability on attention to threat messages

SummaryThe objective of this study is to determine whether attention toward fear messages is affected by variation in the controllability of the associated danger. There is no consensus regarding the effectiveness of fear appeals in driving adaptive behaviour, and it may be the case that threat messages fail to capture attention if the associated danger is not explicitly controllable. One hundred and sixty undergraduate university students completed a computer task that involved exposure to threat cues signalling a danger (money loss). In high control blocks, attending to threat cues provided a high chance of avoiding the danger, whereas in low control blocks, attending to threat cues provided little chance of avoiding the danger. Attentional capture by threat was measured. A mixed‐design analysis of variance showed there was greater attentional capture by threat cues in high control blocks compared with low control blocks. This effect was observed with a short stimulus exposure duration and was magnified with a long exposure duration. Fear appeals could capture attention to a greater degree if the danger related to the threat message was communicated as being controllable. This has significant practical implications for the implementation of fear appeals.

Multimodal Representational Meanings of ISIS’s Victims on Facebook

After 2003, Iraq faced different terrorist groups that committed massacres against the Iraqis. They presented their violence in media using social networks and particularly Facebook posts. This article investigates the representation of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria's portrayal of three images posted on Facebook posts. The article focuses on the representational meanings using Kress and Van Leeuwen's (2006) model as an analytical framework and the discussion focuses on narrative processes. The findings of the current study highlight the effective role played by images in the process of meaning-making by means of narrating the concept of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria style and to portray their ideology through disseminating the message of fear and intimidating.

How do smokers respond to pictorial and threatening tobacco warnings? The role of threat level, repeated exposure, type of packs and warning size

Purpose This study aims to investigate the role of two structural factors – threat level depicted on fear messages and warning size – as well as two contextual factors – repeated exposure and type of packs – on pictorial and threatening tobacco warnings’ effectiveness. Design/methodology/approach A two (warning threat level: moderate vs high) × two (coverage: 40 vs 75 per cent) × two (packaging type: plain vs branded) within-subjects experiment was carried out. Subjects were exposed three times to pictorial and threatening tobacco warnings. Both self-report and psychophysiological measurements of emotion were used. Findings Results indicate that threat level is the most effective structural factor to influence smokers’ reactions, while warning size has very low impact. Furthermore, emotional arousal, fear and disgust, as well as attitude toward tobacco brand, decrease after the second exposure to pictorial and threatening tobacco warnings, but stay stable at the third exposure. However, there is no effect of repetition on the emotional valence component, arousal-subjective component, on intention of quitting or of reducing cigarette consumption. Finally, there is a negative effect of plain packs on attitude toward tobacco brand over repeated exposures, but there is no effect of the type of packs on smokers’ emotions and intentions. Social implications Useful marketing social guidance, which might help government decision-makers increase the effectiveness of smoking reduction measures, is offered. Originality/value For the first time in this context, psychophysiological and self-report measurements were combined to measure smokers’ reactions toward pictorial and threatening tobacco warnings in a repeated exposure study.

Fear and Loathing in Populist Campaigns? Comparing the Communication Style of Populists and Non-populists in Elections Worldwide

Populists are often described as using a more aggressive, offensive, and anxiety-fuelled rhetoric than non-populists. Yet, little systematic evidence exists that this is the case. This article presents the first large-scale systematic study comparing the communication style of populists and non-populists worldwide, and introduces an original dataset based on expert ratings. The dataset contains systematic information for 195 candidates having competed in 40 national elections worldwide between June 2016 and June 2017. Results highlight that, controlling for “usual suspects” that drive negativity and emotional campaigns, populist campaigns are 15% more negative and contain 11% more character attacks and 8% more fear messages than campaigns of non-populist candidates.