Attitude Change and Information Integration in Fear Appeals

Investigated the combinatorial rule individuals use to integrate information about the components of a fear appeal. 89 undergraduates were presented with information about a hypothetical danger, and their intentions to adopt the recommended coping response were measured. The potential danger was varied on the dimensions of noxiousness, probability of occurrence, and efficacy of the coping response. Results fail to support a multiplicative combinatorial rule but instead strongly support an additive model. Ss responded in a logical fashion: Intentions to adopt the recommended protective response increased as the danger became more noxious or severe and more likely to occur, and the recommended coping response became more effective in averting the potential danger. Although individuals do not respond completely rationally when confronting real dangers, results show that individuals respond in a highly logical fashion when contemplating how they would respond to a hypothetical danger.