Editing Appeal to fear (section)

==As persuasion==
[[Fear appeal]]s are often used in [[marketing]] and [[social policy]], as a method of [[persuasion]]. Fear is an effective tool to change attitudes,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://issuu.com/martijnboermans/docs/boermans_2009_-_thesis_fear_appeals|title=ISSUU - Fear Appeals and Persuasion by Martijn Boermans|author=Martijn Boermans|work=Issuu|access-date=17 June 2015}}</ref>{{Unreliable source|date=February 2016}} which are moderated by the motivation and ability to process the fear message. Examples of fear appeal include reference to [[social exclusion]], and getting laid-off from one's job,<ref name="cons">Solomon. Zaichkowsky, Polegato. Consumer Behaviour Pearson, Toronto. 2005</ref> getting cancer from smoking or involvement in car accidents and driving.

Fear appeals are ''[[monotonic function|nonmonotonic]]'', meaning that the level of persuasion does not always increase when the claimed danger is increased. A study of public service messages on AIDS found that if the messages were too aggressive or fearful, they were rejected by the subject; a moderate amount of fear is the most effective [[attitude (psychology)|attitude]] changer.<ref name="cons" />

Others argue that it is not the level of fear that is decisive changing attitudes via the persuasion process. Rather, as long as a scare-tactics message includes a recommendation to cope with the fear, it can work.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://igitur-archive.library.uu.nl/dissertations/1975035/inhoud.htm|title=How fear appeals work : motivational biases in the processing of fear-arousing health communications|access-date=17 June 2015}}</ref>