The use of fear versus hope in health advertisements: the moderating role of individual characteristics on subsequent health decisions in Chile

Abstract

No studies have addressed the way the effectiveness of fear and hope advertisements differs across differently characterized individuals. The present study aims to find out in which situations related to different individual characteristics do fear and hope advertisements work as tools in generating healthy eating intention and physical activity intention. This study conducted an experiment using 283 adults from Chile. The results suggest that fear versus hope appeals in health advertisements have a more positive influence on healthy eating intention. The results suggest that the effect of fear advertisements on healthy eating intention is positively moderated by the frequency of fast food consumption and is negatively moderated by self-efficacy. The results suggest that fear versus hope appeals in health advertisements have no main effect on physical activity intention. However, the results suggest that the effect of fear advertisements on physical activity intention is positively moderated by perceived body weight and past healthy eating behavior and is negatively moderated by subjective norms. The results indicate that when making health advertising, homogenous messages are not persuasive for heterogeneous audiences. The present study results suggest that fear and hope advertisements should be delivered considering the individual characteristics identified in the present study.