Persuasion and Influence

   

 Use of fear is evident in this sunscreen advert. Specifically, the advert underlines the danger of UV rays and the necessity of a sunscreen to shield the consumer from them. Dillard and Anderson (2004) highlight why such an approach may have been adopted. 

  Dillard and Anderson (2004) presented participants with the advice to get a vaccine after showing information about influenza (manipulating the explicitness of the message for higher / lower fear conditions). Induction of higher levels of fear, according to Dillard and Anderson, resulted in participants reporting a significantly increased likelihood that they would seek vaccination in the future (compared to that reported by the same participants initially). It could be argued that the threat of skin cancer implied in this advert is a fear that might analogously persuade people to buy / use this company’s sunscreen products in the future (Dillard & Anderson, 2004; Dunlop, Wakefield & Kashima, 2010). 

References

Dillard, J.P., & Anderson, J.W. (2004).The role of fear in persuasion. Psychology
  & Marketing, 21, 909 – 926.

Dunlop, S.M., Wakefield, M., & Kashima, Y. (2010). Pathways to persuasion:
  Cognitive and experiential responses to health-promoting mass media messages.
  Communication Research, 37, 133 – 167.