Ethics and Effectiveness with fear appeal in public service announcements
Recently, within modern advertising, the use of emotional appeal has been an issue of growing interest in both the advertising industry as well as the consumer public. Questions have arisen regarding the reason for its use and its ethical boundaries. Playing on the emotions of the general consumer public through advertising is considered by many to be very unethical. Furthermore, the advertising industry has started a trend that involves playing on the emotions of the consumer, specifically the emotion of fear. Obviously, in an effort to try and sell a certain product, it would have to be considered at least somewhat unethical to use consumer emotion as a means to sell that product. However, there is another form of advertising that has noticed the effects of emotional appeal, and now it too has followed suit. This other branch is known as the "Public Service Announcement." Public Service Announcements, or PSAs are not for profit messages for the benefit of the gene!ral public. The purpose of individual PSAs can range from an anti-drug c
For instance, in 1996, 64% of passenger vehicle fatalities were not wearing seat belts (Nova). The seat belt PSA that was chosen does use negative emotion triggering circumstances of action for survival threat of death or injury when involved in a car accident without wearing a seat belt. Condoms are Seen an Heard in New HIV Prevention Campaign. " By taking the opposite stance, it can be assumed that if the notion of death coming soon could be relayed unto the listener, he would then care. Given that response is greater from the negative fear appeal, and that the wishe!d response of wearing a seat belt will do no harm but rather save a life, it is obvious that the use of emotional appeal in this situation, though argumentatively unethical, is and should be allowable.
Common topics in this essay:
Service Announcements,
American Psychologist,
Deborah MacInnis,
Book II,
Rational Persuasion,
Research Sometimes,
Bodensteiner April,
Announcements PSAs,
AIDS PSA,
Rhetoric Aristotle,
seat belt,
fear appeal,
emotional appeal,
public service,
wearing seat,
public service announcements,
service announcements,
journal advertising research,
seat belts,
wearing seat belt,
advertising research,
journal advertising,
wear seat,
afraid fear appeals,
don't afraid fear,
|
Acceptance Essays
