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Fear appeals are commonly used in the advertising of social issues, such as drunken driving. In general, researchers believe that there is a positive relationship between fear and persuasion (to adapt misbehaviour). However, there are disputes amongst fear appeal researchers about the level of fear appeal to be used. Fear appeals, like other advertising appeals employed in advertising, is dependant on the traits of the target audience. The effect of fear appeals differ for different target audiences as different people fear different matters. This study tests one of the contemporary models on the working of fear appeals, namely activation theory. Young adults are the target audience of social marketing in South Africa for anti-alcohol abuse issues, such as drunken driving. The effect of fear appeals on the target audience has never been empirically investigated in South Africa although social marketers often employ fear appeals to bring about a change in behaviour. The responses of a sample of young adults in South Africa were tested by means of a quasi-experimental design based on Thayer’s activation deactivation checklist as implemented by previous fear appeal researchers. Three television advertisements that depict three levels of fear appeal (low, medium and high) were presented to three sample groups. Significant differences in the responses of the level of fear appeal were observed after statistical analyses in terms of tension arousal, energy arousal, attitude towards the advertisement and intention to engage in drunken driving. A difference in how genders react to fear appeals was also found. Stellenbosch University http://scholar.sun.ac.za
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