1887
Volume 4, Issue 2
  • ISSN 2211-7245
  • E-ISSN: 2211-7253
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

Fear appeals are frequently used in health communication, for example in anti-smoking campaigns. Of the different theoretical models that predict and explain how fear appeals work, the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM; Witte, 1992) is probably used most often. However, most propositions of the EPPM were not explicitly tested, or received mixed empirical support (Popova, 2012). To clarify the relationships between the variables of the EPPM, four of the EPPM’s propositions were tested by performing correlational and mediation analyses. The results ( = 116) show that a large part of the relationships between the concepts of the EPPM and the outcomes of fear appeals differ from what the EPPM claims: threat and intention did not prove to be related, threat did not mediate the effect of fear on intention, and fear did not prove to influence the fear control responses. The findings from this study raise questions regarding the appropriateness of the EPPM.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/dujal.4.2.07oom
2016-02-11
2024-10-13
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Dillard, J.P. , Plotnick, C.A. , Godbold, L.C. , Freimuth, V.S. , & Edgar, T
    (1996) The multiple affective outcomes of AIDS PSAs: Fear appeals do more than scare people. Communication Research, 23(1), 44–72. doi: 10.1177/009365096023001002
    https://doi.org/10.1177/009365096023001002 [Google Scholar]
  2. Fishbein, M. , & Ajzen, I
    (2010) Predicting and changing behavior: The reasoned action approach. New York: Psychology Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Goodall, C.E. , & Roberto, A.J
    (2008) An inconvenient truth: An application of the extended parallel process model. Communication Teacher, 22(3), 93–96. doi: 10.1080/17404620802154691
    https://doi.org/10.1080/17404620802154691 [Google Scholar]
  4. Green, M.C. , & Brock, T.C
    (2000) The role of transportation in the persuasiveness of public narratives. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79(5), 701–721. doi: 10.1037/0022‑3514.79.5.701
    https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.79.5.701 [Google Scholar]
  5. Hayes, A.F
    (2009) Beyond Baron and Kenny: Statistical mediation analysis in the new millennium. Communication Monographs, 76(4), 408–420. doi: 10.1080/03637750903310360
    https://doi.org/10.1080/03637750903310360 [Google Scholar]
  6. (2013) Introduction to mediation, moderation and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. New York: The Guilford Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Hoog, N. de , Stroebe, W. , & Wit, J.B.F. de
    (2008) The processing of fear‐arousing communications: How biased processing leads to persuasion. Social Influence, 3(2), 84–113. doi: 10.1080/15534510802185836
    https://doi.org/10.1080/15534510802185836 [Google Scholar]
  8. McMahan, S. , Witte, K. , & Meyer, J
    (1998) The perception of risk messages regarding electromagnetic fields: Extending the extended parallel process model to an unknown risk. Health Communication, 10(3), 247–259. doi: 10.1207/s15327027hc1003_4
    https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327027hc1003_4 [Google Scholar]
  9. Morman, M
    (2000) The influence of fear appeals, message design, and masculinity on men’s motivation to perform the testicular self-exam. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 28(2), 91–116. doi: 10.1080/00909880009365558
    https://doi.org/10.1080/00909880009365558 [Google Scholar]
  10. Moyer-Gusé, E
    (2008) Toward a theory of entertainment persuasion: Explaining the persuasive effects of entertainment-education messages. Communication Theory, 18, 407–425. doi: 10.1111/j.1468‑2885.2008.00328.x
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2885.2008.00328.x [Google Scholar]
  11. Popova, L
    (2012) The extended parallel process model: Illuminating the gaps in research. Health Education & Behavior, 39(4), 455–473. doi: 10.1177/1090198111418108
    https://doi.org/10.1177/1090198111418108 [Google Scholar]
  12. (2014) Scaring the snus out of smokers: Testing effects of fear, threat, and efficacy on smokers’ acceptance of novel smokeless tobacco products. Health Communication, 29(9), 924–936. doi: 10.1080/10410236.2013.824063
    https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2013.824063 [Google Scholar]
  13. Rachman, S
    (2004) Anxiety. New York: Psychology Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Rintamaki, L.S. , & Yang, Z.J
    (2013) Advancing the extended parallel process model through the inclusion of response costs measures. Journal of Health Communication, 19, 759–774. doi: 10.1080/10810730.2013.864722
    https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2013.864722 [Google Scholar]
  15. Ruiter, R.A.C. , Kessels, L.T.E. , Peters, G.Y. , & Kok, G
    (2014) Sixty years of fear appeal research: Current state of the evidence. International Journal of Psychology, 49(2), 63–70. doi: 10.1002/ijop.12042
    https://doi.org/10.1002/ijop.12042 [Google Scholar]
  16. Ruiter, R.A.C. , Verplanken, B. , Cremer, D. de , & Kok, G
    (2004) Danger and fear control in response to fear appeals: The role of need for cognition. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 26(1), 13–24. doi: 10.1207/s15324834basp2601_2
    https://doi.org/10.1207/s15324834basp2601_2 [Google Scholar]
  17. So, J
    (2013) A further extension of the extended parallel process model (E-EPPM): Implications of cognitive appraisal theory of emotion and dispositional coping style. Health Communication, 28, 72–83. doi: 10.1080/10410236.2012.708633
    https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2012.708633 [Google Scholar]
  18. Spielberger, C.D
    (1983) Anxiety inventory for adults (Forms Y1 and Y2). Menlo Park: Mind Garden.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Taylor, J.A
    (1953) A personality scale of manifest anxiety. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 48(2), 285–290. doi: 10.1037/h0056264
    https://doi.org/10.1037/h0056264 [Google Scholar]
  20. Witte, K
    (1992) Putting the fear back into fear appeals: The extended parallel process model. Communication Monographs, 59, 329–349. doi: 10.1080/03637759209376276
    https://doi.org/10.1080/03637759209376276 [Google Scholar]
  21. (1998) Fear as motivator, fear as inhibitor: Using the extended parallel process model to explain fear appeal successes and failures. In P.A. Anderson & L.K. Guerrero (Eds.), Handbook of communication and emotion: Research, theory, applications, and contexts (pp. 423–450). London: Academic Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Witte, K. , Cameron, K.A. , McKeon, J.K. , & Berkowitz, J.M
    (1996) Predicting risk behaviors: Development and validation of a diagnostic scale. Journal of Health Communication, 1(4), 317–341. doi: 10.1080/108107396127988
    https://doi.org/10.1080/108107396127988 [Google Scholar]
  23. Witte, K. , & Morrison, K
    (2000) Examining the influence of trait anxiety/repression‐sensitization on individuals’ reactions to fear appeals. Western Journal of Communication, 64(1), 1–27. doi: 10.1080/10570310009374661
    https://doi.org/10.1080/10570310009374661 [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/dujal.4.2.07oom
Loading
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error