IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i23p16442-d1291388.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Reassessing the Impact of Fear Appeals in Sustainable Consumption Communication: An Investigation into Message Types and Message Foci

Author

Listed:
  • Chih-Ching Yu

    (Department of Business Administration, National Taipei University, No. 151, University Rd., Sanxia Dist., New Taipei City 237303, Taiwan)

  • Ching Lu

    (Department of Business Administration, National Taipei University, No. 151, University Rd., Sanxia Dist., New Taipei City 237303, Taiwan)

Abstract

In the face of escalating environmental challenges, effective communication has assumed unprecedented significance. This study addresses a critical research gap concerning the utilization of fear appeal in promoting sustainable consumer behavior. Rather than treating fear appeals as a singular construct, this research decomposes them into distinct components to explore the nuanced impacts of various fear appeal aspects. Additionally, we investigate how different message foci influence the effectiveness of various fear appeals in promoting sustainable consumption. To achieve these objectives, we designed an experimental study encompassing eight distinct scenarios, achieved through the manipulation of four types of fear appeal and two types of message focus. Participants were randomly assigned to one of these scenarios. Our findings reveal noteworthy differences in purchasing intentions, particularly in the context of various fear appeal types. Specifically, we observed significant variations between the economic fear appeal and the physical fear appeal, as well as between the self-esteem fear appeal and the physical fear appeal. Surprisingly, our analysis of the moderating effect of different message foci did not align with our initial expectations. The outcomes of this research offer valuable insights for green marketers, empowering them to employ diverse facets of fear appeal in their marketing strategies with greater flexibility and efficiency. These findings underscore the evolving landscape of sustainable consumer behavior and the evolving role of communication in addressing environmental challenges.

Suggested Citation

  • Chih-Ching Yu & Ching Lu, 2023. "Reassessing the Impact of Fear Appeals in Sustainable Consumption Communication: An Investigation into Message Types and Message Foci," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-18, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:23:p:16442-:d:1291388
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/23/16442/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/23/16442/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Samantha Garcia & Suellen Hopfer & Elouise Botes & Samuel Greiff, 2022. "Associations between Coronavirus Crisis Perception, Perceived Economic Risk of Coronavirus, General Self-Efficacy, and Coronavirus Anxiety at the Start of the Pandemic: Differences by Gender and Race," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-15, March.
    2. Benoit, Ilgım Dara & Miller, Elizabeth G., 2022. "Enhancing creativity perception through fear," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 1084-1098.
    3. Bartikowski, Boris & Laroche, Michel & Richard, Marie-Odile, 2019. "A content analysis of fear appeal advertising in Canada, China, and France," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 232-239.
    4. Heer, Burkhard & Polito, Vito & Wickens, Michael R., 2020. "Population aging, social security and fiscal limits," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    5. Jennifer Jeffrey & Matthew Thomson, 2019. "Integrating Negative Social Cues in Tobacco Packaging: A Novel Approach to Discouraging Smokers," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(4), pages 1380-1395, December.
    6. Zou, Lili Wenli & Chan, Ricky Y.K., 2019. "Why and when do consumers perform green behaviors? An examination of regulatory focus and ethical ideology," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 113-127.
    7. Jianjia He & Shengmin Liu & Tingting Li & Thi Hoai Thuong Mai, 2021. "The Positive Effects of Unneeded Consumption Behaviour on Consumers during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(12), pages 1-17, June.
    8. Suk Min Pang & Booi Chen Tan & Teck Chai Lau, 2021. "Antecedents of Consumers’ Purchase Intention towards Organic Food: Integration of Theory of Planned Behavior and Protection Motivation Theory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-18, May.
    9. Cesare Amatulli & Matteo Angelis & Alessandro M. Peluso & Isabella Soscia & Gianluigi Guido, 2019. "The Effect of Negative Message Framing on Green Consumption: An Investigation of the Role of Shame," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(4), pages 1111-1132, July.
    10. Kirsten Passyn, 2019. "Adding Regret to Fear Appeals: When the Going Gets Difficult, Regret Gets Action," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(4), pages 1507-1534, December.
    11. Micael-Lee Johnstone & Lay Tan, 2015. "Exploring the Gap Between Consumers’ Green Rhetoric and Purchasing Behaviour," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 132(2), pages 311-328, December.
    12. Hunter, Erik & Röös, Elin, 2016. "Fear of climate change consequences and predictors of intentions to alter meat consumption," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 151-160.
    13. Prince Clement Addo & Fang Jiaming & Nora Bakabbey Kulbo & Li Liangqiang, 2020. "COVID-19: fear appeal favoring purchase behavior towards personal protective equipment," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(7-8), pages 471-490, June.
    14. Antonio Chirumbolo & Antonino Callea & Flavio Urbini, 2021. "The Effect of Job Insecurity and Life Uncertainty on Everyday Consumptions and Broader Life Projects during COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-20, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Serena Mastria & Alessandro Vezzil & Andrea De Cesarei, 2023. "Going Green: A Review on the Role of Motivation in Sustainable Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-15, October.
    2. Wintschnig, Bea Alexandra, 2021. "The Attitude-Behavior Gap – Drivers and Barriers of Sustainable Consumption," Junior Management Science (JUMS), Junior Management Science e. V., vol. 6(2), pages 324-346.
    3. Suci, Afred & Wang, Hui-Chih & Doong, Her-Sen, 2023. "Relax Your Fear—The role of autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) in green advertising," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    4. Fu, Shixuan & Zheng, Xiaojiang & Wang, Hongpeng & Luo, Yunzhong, 2023. "Fear appeals and coping appeals for health product promotion: Impulsive purchasing or psychological distancing?," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    5. Rohini R & Daly Paulose Meppurath, 2025. "Dimensions of ethical consumption: A systematic review and future outlook," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(2), pages 1892-1908, April.
    6. Wang, Jiawei, 2023. "The relationship between loneliness and consumer shopping channel choice: Evidence from China," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    7. Cherrier, Helene & Türe, Meltem, 2020. "Value dynamics in ordinary object disposal," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 221-228.
    8. Jie Feng & Jian Li & Wuyang Hu & Gucheng Li, 2022. "Public Interest, Risk, Trust, and Personal Protective Equipment Purchase and Usage: Face Masks Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-16, May.
    9. Wang, Siqi & Cheah, Jun-Hwa & Lim, Xin-Jean & Leong, Yee Choy & Choo, Wei Chong, 2022. "Thanks COVID-19, I'll reconsider my purchase: Can fear appeal reduce online shopping cart abandonment?," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    10. Juan Wang & Yongbo Li, 2024. "Do subjective well-being influence people’s willingness to pay for improved air quality: evidence from China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 7857-7879, March.
    11. Michael Wickens, 2022. "How might the United Kingdom's debt–GDP ratio be reduced? Evidence from the last 120 years," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(2), pages 369-384, June.
    12. Yimin Cheng & Xiaoyu Zhou & Kai Yao, 2023. "LGBT-Inclusive Representation in Entertainment Products and Its Market Response: Evidence from Field and Lab," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 183(4), pages 1189-1209, April.
    13. Alex Hiller & Tony Woodall, 2019. "Everything Flows: A Pragmatist Perspective of Trade-Offs and Value in Ethical Consumption," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(4), pages 893-912, July.
    14. Osarodion Ogiemwonyi & Muhammad Tahir Jan, 2025. "Causal analysis of social media on environmental and health concerns, attitudes, and social influence that leads to green purchase behavior," International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, Springer;International Association of Public and Non-Profit Marketing, vol. 22(3), pages 713-749, September.
    15. Luqman, Adeel & Talwar, Shalini & Masood, Ayesha & Dhir, Amandeep, 2021. "Does enterprise social media use promote employee creativity and well-being?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 40-54.
    16. Herjanto, Halimin & Amin, Muslim & Purington, Elizabeth F., 2021. "Panic buying: The effect of thinking style and situational ambiguity," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    17. Ricky Y. K. Chan, 2021. "Do chief information officers matter for sustainable development? Impact of their regulatory focus on green information technology strategies and corporate performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 2523-2534, July.
    18. Lars Petersen & Jacob Hörisch & Kathleen Jacobs, 2021. "Worse is worse and better doesn't matter?: The effects of favorable and unfavorable environmental information on consumers’ willingness to pay," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 25(5), pages 1338-1356, October.
    19. Kristina Auxtova & Stephanie Schreven & Lucy J. Wishart, 2025. "Refashioning Second-Hand Clothes Consumption Through Pleasure, Pain, Seduction and Conversion: A Virtue Ethics Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 196(4), pages 863-881, February.
    20. Heer, Burkhard & Rohrbacher, Stefan, 2021. "Endogenous longevity and optimal tax progressivity," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:23:p:16442-:d:1291388. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.