Fifteen years of fear arousal: research on threat appeals: 1953-1968.

Research on threat appeals has yielded conflicting findings concerning the relative effectiveness of high threat versus low threat in persuasion. Studies reviewed here have investigated the effects on persuasion of variables in each of five areas: (a) the nature of the recommendations, (6) personality characteristics of the recipients, (c) source credibility, (d) learning of the message content, and (e) the interest value of fear. Few variables have been found which consistently interact with fear. One conceptual consideration and four methodological considerations are suggested as possible sources of the inconsistency in the findings. A postulated curvilinear relationship between fear level and persuasion may help reconcile some of the conflicting findings on highversus low-threat appeals.