Fear appeals, defensive avoidance and their application to road safety messages

Mass media advertising has an important role to play in road safety efforts, particularly in creating awareness and enhancing risk perceptions (Delhomme et al., 2009; Elliott, 2011). Poor methodological design, and a lack of scientific evaluation mean that it is difficult to determine if road safety campaigns are effective let alone what elements make them effective (Wundersitz, Hutchinson, & Woolley, 2010). Elliot (2011) suggests that the first aim of road safety campaigns should be to gain audience attention. The message then needs to be remembered, not necessarily as a message but the associations with the recommended behaviour. This process is often performed in road safety advertising through the use of threatening and graphic car crash scenes (Castillo-Manzano, Castro-Nuño, & Pedregal, 2012; Lewis, Watson, & White, 2008a). Some practitioners have cautioned that employing these types of messages in health promotion may be ineffective as they can lead to defensive responses such as avoidance or denial (Hoekstra & Wegman, 2011; Ruiter, Abraham, & Kok, 2001; Witte & Allen, 2000). However, this hypothesis is rarely explored in the road safety field. Identifying how and when avoidance occurs could be valuable and aid in the creation of appropriate mass media communications. The present research programme considered evidence from both the road safety and broader health literature in aiming to understand the factors that may lead to the avoidance or acquisition of road risk information. As such, road threats were compared with the health threat of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) often employed in the literature. The factors under investigation included the role of positive beliefs (both optimism and unrealistic optimism) and cognitive precursors such as threat, efficacy and control appraisals. Study 1 (n=311) employed a between subjects design that presented participants with threatening essay information about road or CHD outcomes. In the road condition, road crash outcomes were characterised by low perceived personal control and high control attributed to the role of other people. This was very different to control appraisals for the CHD condition where health outcomes were characterised by high perceived personal control and low perceived control attributed to others. Results demonstrated an interaction effect between the condition and perceived control where the adaptive effects of optimism were only noted in the CHD condition. Specifically, recall of risk information was greatest for optimists in the CHD condition characterised by high perceived personal control. These results suggested that the role of optimism in facilitating recall of risk information may largely be an artefact of perceived control appraisals. As such identifying targets characterised by high perceived personal control in road safety might be important to the acquisition of risk information Study 2 (n=207) aimed to investigate the outcomes individuals perceived they could personally control with regard to road threats. This was performed relative to CHD threats. Results demonstrated the qualitatively different nature of threatening road outcomes. Overall, participants' beliefs in their ability to carry out risk and protective road behaviours were not related to beliefs in their ability to control road crash outcomes. However, there were strong relationships between behavioural control and perceived control over legal sanctions (specifically the occurrence of fines). In contrast for a CHD threat, participants perceived that what they did behaviourally influenced the occurrence of a heart attack outcome, via controlling a number of markers (e.g. blood pressure, weight) that indicate an individual is at risk. These findings demonstrate why threatening road messages characterised by crash outcomes are not ideal to use in road safety promotion efforts. Instead, messages presenting fine outcomes may be more appropriate as individuals perceive they have some influence over the outcome. In a road only scenario (Study 3; n= 228), participants were once again presented with road risk information. This information portrayed risky behaviour leading to road crash and legal sanction outcomes in two separate essays. Results demonstrated that threat and efficacy appraisals were independently related to recall of the legal sanction information. Specifically, increases in threat and efficacy lead to increases in recall. No such relationships were demonstrated for the crash outcome information. Further, a high risk target group remembered equally as much legal sanction information compared to low risk groups who were engaging in higher levels of protective behaviour. For the crash information, a similar target group recalled less crash information than two low risk groups. Overall, the findings suggest that threatening road safety messages may not lead to inattention processes, as long as the outcome is appraised as controllable by the individual and their ability to carry out risk and protective behaviours is related to the outcome presented. These findings are considered in light of current fear appeal theory and best practice health promotion and intervention

Fear appeals, defensive avoidance and their application to road safety messages

Mass media advertising has an important role to play in road safety efforts, particularly in creating awareness and enhancing risk perceptions (Delhomme et al., 2009; Elliott, 2011). Poor methodological design, and a lack of scientific evaluation mean that it is difficult to determine if road safety campaigns are effective let alone what elements make them effective (Wundersitz, Hutchinson, & Woolley, 2010). Elliot (2011) suggests that the first aim of road safety campaigns should be to gain audience attention. The message then needs to be remembered, not necessarily as a message but the associations with the recommended behaviour. This process is often performed in road safety advertising through the use of threatening and graphic car crash scenes (Castillo-Manzano, Castro-Nuño, & Pedregal, 2012; Lewis, Watson, & White, 2008a). Some practitioners have cautioned that employing these types of messages in health promotion may be ineffective as they can lead to defensive responses such as avoidance or denial (Hoekstra & Wegman, 2011; Ruiter, Abraham, & Kok, 2001; Witte & Allen, 2000). However, this hypothesis is rarely explored in the road safety field. Identifying how and when avoidance occurs could be valuable and aid in the creation of appropriate mass media communications. The present research programme considered evidence from both the road safety and broader health literature in aiming to understand the factors that may lead to the avoidance or acquisition of road risk information. As such, road threats were compared with the health threat of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) often employed in the literature. The factors under investigation included the role of positive beliefs (both optimism and unrealistic optimism) and cognitive precursors such as threat, efficacy and control appraisals. Study 1 (n=311) employed a between subjects design that presented participants with threatening essay information about road or CHD outcomes. In the road condition, road crash outcomes were characterised by low perceived personal control and high control attributed to the role of other people. This was very different to control appraisals for the CHD condition where health outcomes were characterised by high perceived personal control and low perceived control attributed to others. Results demonstrated an interaction effect between the condition and perceived control where the adaptive effects of optimism were only noted in the CHD condition. Specifically, recall of risk information was greatest for optimists in the CHD condition characterised by high perceived personal control. These results suggested that the role of optimism in facilitating recall of risk information may largely be an artefact of perceived control appraisals. As such identifying targets characterised by high perceived personal control in road safety might be important to the acquisition of risk information Study 2 (n=207) aimed to investigate the outcomes individuals perceived they could personally control with regard to road threats. This was performed relative to CHD threats. Results demonstrated the qualitatively different nature of threatening road outcomes. Overall, participants' beliefs in their ability to carry out risk and protective road behaviours were not related to beliefs in their ability to control road crash outcomes. However, there were strong relationships between behavioural control and perceived control over legal sanctions (specifically the occurrence of fines). In contrast for a CHD threat, participants perceived that what they did behaviourally influenced the occurrence of a heart attack outcome, via controlling a number of markers (e.g. blood pressure, weight) that indicate an individual is at risk. These findings demonstrate why threatening road messages characterised by crash outcomes are not ideal to use in road safety promotion efforts. Instead, messages presenting fine outcomes may be more appropriate as individuals perceive they have some influence over the outcome. In a road only scenario (Study 3; n= 228), participants were once again presented with road risk information. This information portrayed risky behaviour leading to road crash and legal sanction outcomes in two separate essays. Results demonstrated that threat and efficacy appraisals were independently related to recall of the legal sanction information. Specifically, increases in threat and efficacy lead to increases in recall. No such relationships were demonstrated for the crash outcome information. Further, a high risk target group remembered equally as much legal sanction information compared to low risk groups who were engaging in higher levels of protective behaviour. For the crash information, a similar target group recalled less crash information than two low risk groups. Overall, the findings suggest that threatening road safety messages may not lead to inattention processes, as long as the outcome is appraised as controllable by the individual and their ability to carry out risk and protective behaviours is related to the outcome presented. These findings are considered in light of current fear appeal theory and best practice health promotion and intervention

The development of a model predicting attention to health information: why perceived control is crucial

The aim of this research was to examine the variables that aff ect attention to health information in order to develop a predictive model. Community participants (N = 330) were randomly assigned to one of two conditions that presented information about the risk of developing coronary heart disease (CHD) or the risk of being involved in a car crash. Information was both risk and neutral in valency, counterbalanced to control for order eff ects. Attention to information was measured using a surprise recall task. Other variables were measured including perceived risk, optimism, control and coping strategies. Overall, participants in the CHD condition remembered signifi cantly more risk information than participants in the road condition. Participants in the road condition endorsed signifi cantly lower beliefs in personal control perceptions while also endorsing greater beliefs in other’s control over their own road outcomes. In addition, relationships between the remaining predictors and the dependant variable may actually be curvilinear in nature and explained using perceived control. Results suggest that while perceived control is usually emphasised as integral in adopting protective behaviours they are also central to the communication of health information. These fi ndings will be discussed in light of current theories of best practice health promotion and intervention

Investigating perceived control over negative road outcomes: implications for theory and risk communication

Road safety advertising in Australia is largely based on the assumption that more fear results in greater persuasion. As such, the portrayal of violent road crashes remains the status quo. The current research aimed to investigate if individuals perceive they can influence such outcomes, as theory suggests that efficacy perceptions are central to fear appeal success. Results from two studies demonstrated that participants believed their behaviours would influence financial and point penalty outcomes but not the occurrence of road crashes. This research demonstrates why the portrayal of car crash outcomes in road safety messages needs to be reconsidered

Investigating perceived control over negative road outcomes: implications for theory and risk communication

Road safety advertising in Australia is largely based on the assumption that more fear results in greater persuasion. As such, the portrayal of violent road crashes remains the status quo. The current research aimed to investigate if individuals perceive they can influence such outcomes, as theory suggests that efficacy perceptions are central to fear appeal success. Results from two studies demonstrated that participants believed their behaviours would influence financial and point penalty outcomes but not the occurrence of road crashes. This research demonstrates why the portrayal of car crash outcomes in road safety messages needs to be reconsidered

Fear campaigns and control appraisals: creating messages that matter in road safety

In Australia road safety advertising often highlights the consequences of risky driving through the portrayal of graphic car crash scenes. Many health promotion researchers have cautioned that employing these types of messages may be ineffective and lead to defensive responses such as avoidance, particularly where efficacy perceptions are low. Identifying road outcomes characterised by high perceived control in populations may be crucial to overcoming avoidance and consequently aid in the creation of effective messages. However, such hypotheses are rarely examined. The present study employed a within subjects design where community participants (n = 228) read information highlighting the risks of dangerous driving. The information portrayed risky behaviour leading to road crash and legal sanction outcomes in two separate essays. The delivery of the information was counterbalanced and recall for each message was measured using surprise recall tasks. Perceptions of risk and efficacy were also assessed for both outcomes. Results demonstrated that threat and efficacy appraisals were independently related to recall of the legal sanction information. Specifically, increases in threat and efficacy were related to increases in recall. No such relationships were demonstrated for the crash outcome information. These findings suggest that the identification of controllable outcomes may be the key to overcoming avoidance of threatening road safety advertisements. Results are discussed in light of current fear appeal theory and best practice health promotion in road safety

Fear campaigns and control appraisals: creating messages that matter in road safety

In Australia road safety advertising often highlights the consequences of risky driving through the portrayal of graphic car crash scenes. Many health promotion researchers have cautioned that employing these types of messages may be ineffective and lead to defensive responses such as avoidance, particularly where efficacy perceptions are low. Identifying road outcomes characterised by high perceived control in populations may be crucial to overcoming avoidance and consequently aid in the creation of effective messages. However, such hypotheses are rarely examined. The present study employed a within subjects design where community participants (n = 228) read information highlighting the risks of dangerous driving. The information portrayed risky behaviour leading to road crash and legal sanction outcomes in two separate essays. The delivery of the information was counterbalanced and recall for each message was measured using surprise recall tasks. Perceptions of risk and efficacy were also assessed for both outcomes. Results demonstrated that threat and efficacy appraisals were independently related to recall of the legal sanction information. Specifically, increases in threat and efficacy were related to increases in recall. No such relationships were demonstrated for the crash outcome information. These findings suggest that the identification of controllable outcomes may be the key to overcoming avoidance of threatening road safety advertisements. Results are discussed in light of current fear appeal theory and best practice health promotion in road safety