The Impact of TV Ads’ Humor and Fear Appeal on Youths’ Driving Attitude

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 advertising and marketing

2 assistant prof. in psychology, Allameh Tabatabaee Uni.

Abstract
The present research examines the role of exciting appeals (humor appeal and fear appeal) in TV ads messages regarding safe driving and its relation with the audience’s gender and its effects on individuals’ attitude towards obeying traffic rules and regulations. A sample of 126 individuals took a pre-test to fill in attitude and involvement scales, then watched an advertising video with fear of humor content, and finally they took a post-test. Then, 51 individuals completed the “follow-up” section in attitude scales. The findings showed that the fear appeal has a greater impact on general and instrumentalist attitude compared to humor appeal. However, there was no interactive relationship between appeal and gender. The findings indicate that messages’ appeal has little impact on instrumentalist-value attitude. Furthermore, in case of dividing individuals based on involvement, humor appeal is persuasive for people with less level of involvement.

Keywords


حکیم آرا، محمدعلی. (1388). ارتباطات متقاعدگرانه و تبلیغ. تهران: سمت.
رئیس‌دانا، فریبرز. (1380). بررسی‌‌هایی در آسیب‌شناسی اجتماعی در ایران. تهران: انتشارات سازمان بهزیستی کشور.
گروه مترجمان وزارت بهداشت و درمان و آموزش پزشکی. (1381). گزارش جهانی سلامت 2002. تهران: مؤسسه فرهنگی ابن سینای بزرگ.
Aptekar, E.; Bryant, J.; Oney, D. & Yocum, J. (2003). Using Fear, Humor, and Logic to Reach Military Members: A Study of Defense Department Motorcycle Safety PSAs. University of Oklahoma, pp. 1- 43.
Bergdahl, J. (2005). Sex Differences in Attitudes Toward Driving: A Survey. Social Science Journal, 42, pp. 595- 601.
Borzekowski, L.G. & Poussaint, A. F. (1991). Public Service Announcement Perceptions: A Quantitative Examination of Anti-Violence Messages. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 181-188.
Cho, H. & Boster, F.J. (2005). Development and Validation of Value- Outcome- and Impression-Relevant Involvement Scales. Communication Research 32, pp. 235-264.
Corcoran, N. (2007). Communicating Health -Strategies for Health Promotion. London: Sage Publications.
Dillard, J.P. (2002). Persuation and the Structure of Affect. In J. Price Dillard & M.Pfau (Eds.). The Persuasion Handbook: Developments in Theory and Practice (pp. 289-308). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Donovan, R.J.; Jalleh, G. & Henley, N.C. (1999). Executing Effective Road Safety Advertising: are Big Budgets Necessary? Accident Analysis and Prevention, Vol. 31, No. 3, pp. 243–252.
Dubé, L. & Morgan, M. S. (1996). Trend Effects and Gender Differences in Retrospective Judgments of Consumption Emotions. Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 23, pp. 156-162.
Fleiter, J. & Watson, B. (2006). The Speed Paradox: The Misalignment Between Driver Attitudes and Speeding Behaviour. Journal of the Australasian College of Road Safety, Vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 23-30.
Goldenbeld, C.; Twisk, D.A.M. & Houwing. S. (2008). Effects of Persuasive Communication and Group Discussions on Acceptability of Anti-speeding Policies for Male and Female Drivers. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 207–220.
Johnson, B.T. & Eagly, A.H. (1989). Effects of Involvement on Persuasion: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 106, No. 2, pp. 290-314.
Katz, D. (1960). The Functional Approach to the Study of Attitudes. Public Opinion Quarterly, 24, pp. 163-204.
Laurent, G. & Kapferer. (1985). Measuring Consumer Involvement Profiles, Journal of Marketing Research, 22 (February), pp. 41-53.
Leventhal, H.; Jones, S. & Trembly, G. (1996). Sex Differences in Attitude and Behavior Change under Conditions of Fear and Specific Instructions. J Exp Social Psych, 2, pp. 387-399.
Lewis, I. (2008). Factors Influencing The Effectiveness of Advertising Counter measures In Road Safety.
Marshall, H.M.; Reinhart, A.M.; Feeley, T.H.; Tutzauer, F. & Anker, A. (2008). Comparing College Students' Value-, Outcome-, and Impression-Relevant Involvement in Health-Related Issues, Health Communication, Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 171- 183.
Monahan, J.L. (1995). Thinking Positively: Using Positive Affect When DesigningHealth Messages. In: Maibach E, Parrott RL, Editors.
Perloff, R. M. (2003). The Dynamics of Persuasion: Communication and Attitudes in the 21 Stcentury 2nd, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc, Mahwah, NJ.
Petty, R.E. & Cacioppo, J.T. (1986). The Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 19, pp. 123-205.
Petty, R.E.; Schumann, D.W.; Richman, S.A. & Strathman, A.J. (1993). Positive Mood and Persuation: Different Roles for Affect Under High-and Low-Elaboration Conditions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 64, No. 1, pp. 5-20.
Rhodes, P. & Wolitski, R.J. (1990). Perceived Effectiveness of Fear Appeals in AIDS Education: Relationship to Ethnicity, Gender, Age, and Group Membership. AIDS Educ Prev, 2, pp. 1-11.
Rossiter, J.R.; Donovan, R.J. & Jones, S.C. (2000). Applying the Rossiter-Percy Model to Social Marketing Communications, ANZMAC 2000 Visionary Marketing for the 21st Century: Facing the Challenge.
Weinberger, M.; Charles, S. (1996). The Impact of Humor in Advertising;
a Review Journal of Advertising,
Vol. 21, pp.35-60.
Williams, A.F.; Kyrychenko, S.Y. & Retting, R.A. (2006). Characteristics of Speeders. Journal of Safety Research, Vol. 37, No. 3, pp. 227–232.
Witte, K. & Allen, M. (2000). A Meta-Analysis of Fear Appeals: Implications for Effective Public Health Campaigns. Health Education and Behaviour, Vol. 27, No. 5, pp. 608-632.

  • Receive Date 28 May 2013
  • Revise Date 24 September 2013
  • Accept Date 24 February 2014