Editing Appeal to fear (section)

{{Short description|Logical fallacy}}
{{refimprove|date=August 2015}}
An '''appeal to fear''' (also called '''''argumentum ad metum'''''<!-- or ad metum? yes metum is the correct form in latin--> or '''''argumentum in terrorem''''') is a [[fallacy]] in which a person attempts to create support for an idea by attempting to increase fear towards an alternative. An appeal to fear is related to the broader strategy of [[fear appeal]] and is a common tactic in [[marketing]], [[politics]], and [[media (communication)]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://changingminds.org/disciplines/argument/fallacies/fallacies_alpha.htm|title=Full alphabetic list of Fallacies|access-date=17 June 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tannenbaum |first1=Melanie B. |last2=Hepler |first2=Justin |last3=Zimmerman |first3=Rick S. |last4=Saul |first4=Lindsey |last5=Jacobs |first5=Samantha |last6=Wilson |first6=Kristina |last7=Albarracín |first7=Dolores |title=Appealing to fear: A meta-analysis of fear appeal effectiveness and theories. |journal=Psychological Bulletin |date=November 2015 |volume=141 |issue=6 |pages=1178–1204 |doi=10.1037/a0039729|pmc=5789790 }}</ref>