Promoting public health messages: Should we move beyond fear-evoking appeals in road safety?

Road traffic injury is one of the most significant global public health issues of the 21st century. The extent to which negative, fear-evoking messages represent effective persuasive strategies remains a contentious public and empirical issue. Nevertheless, negative, fear-based appeals represent a frequently used approach in Australasian road safety advertising. The authors conducted a series of focus groups with 16 licensed drivers to explore the potential utility of appeals to emotions other than fear. More specifically, they sought to explore the utility of positive emotional appeals, such as those incorporating humor. The themes emerging from the qualitative analysis suggested that both emotion and the provision of strategies are key components contributing to the overall persuasiveness of a road safety advertisement. Overall, it appears there is support for researchers and health advertising practitioners to provide further attention to the role that positive emotional appeals might play in future campaigns.