TY - JOUR
T1 - Fear Responses to Threat Appeals
T2 - Functional Form, Methodological Considerations, and Correspondence Between Static and Dynamic Data
AU - Dillard, James Price
AU - Li, Ruobing
AU - Meczkowski, Eric
AU - Yang, Chun
AU - Shen, Lijiang
PY - 2017/10/1
Y1 - 2017/10/1
N2 - The study tested (a) the extent to which an inverted-U pattern of fear response predicted persuasion, (b) the degree to which the fear curve mediated the effects of the four components of threat appeals on persuasion, (c) the correspondence between the static measures of fear used in between-subjects designs and the dynamic indices required by the within-subject approach, and (d) the methodological threats inherent to dynamic designs. Participants (N = 418) read a message that advocated for colorectal cancer screening. Results showed that the inverted-U fear curve predicted intention to obtain a colonoscopy, and that susceptibility and response efficacy exerted their influence on persuasion via the fear curve while severity and self-efficacy did not. The static measure of fear showed poor absolute correspondence with the peak and end indices of dynamic fear, but strong pattern correspondence. Hazards to inference posed by dynamic designs of the type used in this study appear negligible.
AB - The study tested (a) the extent to which an inverted-U pattern of fear response predicted persuasion, (b) the degree to which the fear curve mediated the effects of the four components of threat appeals on persuasion, (c) the correspondence between the static measures of fear used in between-subjects designs and the dynamic indices required by the within-subject approach, and (d) the methodological threats inherent to dynamic designs. Participants (N = 418) read a message that advocated for colorectal cancer screening. Results showed that the inverted-U fear curve predicted intention to obtain a colonoscopy, and that susceptibility and response efficacy exerted their influence on persuasion via the fear curve while severity and self-efficacy did not. The static measure of fear showed poor absolute correspondence with the peak and end indices of dynamic fear, but strong pattern correspondence. Hazards to inference posed by dynamic designs of the type used in this study appear negligible.
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U2 - 10.1177/0093650216631097
DO - 10.1177/0093650216631097
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85029821070
SN - 0093-6502
VL - 44
SP - 997
EP - 1018
JO - Communication Research
JF - Communication Research
IS - 7
ER -