Abstract
Emotions are routinely exploited in the marketing of risk. Emotional appeals used in advertising and propaganda support the mindless acceptance of risk, including technological risk. As a consequence, emotion is a necessary factor in the design of effective messages warning of risk. To be effective, a warning must command attention, galvanize memory, evoke emotion, contain an explicit instruction, and show consequences. As it is, effective warnings are resisted because they undermine sales. For example, risky behaviors such as using alcohol and tobacco are supported by highly effective emotional advertisements, and the so-called “warning labels” in the United States on alcohol and tobacco products are pallid and cold: offering mere advice, not effective warning. Similarly, the marketing of GM-foods and nuclear energy has been supported by soothing emotional messages that do not deny, but rather ignore, risk. We argue that it is not only morally acceptable but morally imperative to design messages that use emotion effectively to communicate genuine risks, thereby to facilitate rational decisions as to the moral acceptability of risks.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Bandura, A., and R., Walters. 1963. Social Learning and Personality Development. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Beiner, L., G., McCallum-Keeler, and A. L., Nyman. 2000. Adult’s response to Masachusetts anti-tobacco television advertisements: Impact of viewer and advertisement characteristics. Tobacco Control 9: 401–407.
Beiner, L., and T. M., Taylor. 2002. The continuing importance of emotion in tobacco control media campaigns: A response to Hastings and McFadyen. Tobacco Control 11: 75–77.
Bohme, S. R., and D., Egilman. 2006. Consider the source: Warnings and anti-warnings in the tobacco, beryllium, and pharmaceutical industries. In Handbook of Warnings. M. S. Wogalter, ed., 635–644, Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. xxi, 841 pp.
Buck, R., and C. A., Van Lear. 2002. Verbal and nonverbal communication: Distinguishing symbolic, spontaneous, and pseudo-spontaneous nonverbal behavior. Journal of Communication 52: 522–541.
Buck, R. 1984. The Communication of Emotion. New York: Guilford Press.
Buck, R. 1985. Prime theory: An integrated view of motivation and emotion. Psychological Review 92: 389–413.
Buck, R. 1988. Human Motivation and Emotion. New York: Wiley.
Buck, R. 1994. Social and emotional functions in facial expression and communication: The readout hypothesis. Biological Psychology 38: 95–115.
Buck, R. 1999. The biological affects: A typology. Psychological Review 106: 301–336.
Buck, R. 2004. The gratitude of exchange and the gratitude of caring: A developmental-interactionist perspective of moral emotion. In The Psychology of Gratitude. R. A. Emmons, and M. McCullough, eds., 100–122, New York: Oxford University Press.
Buck, R., and A., Chaudhuri. 1994. Affect, reason, and involvement in persuasion: The ARI model. In Konsumenten Forschung. (Consumer Research). Hrsg. Forschungsgruppe Konsum und Verhalten, 107–117, Munchen: Verlag Franz Vahlen.
Buck, R., E., Anderson, A., Chaudhuri, and I., Ray. 2004. Emotion and reason in persuasion: Applying the ARI Model and the CASC Scale. Journal of Business Research. Marketing Communications and Consumer Behavior 57: 647–656.
Buck, R., A., Chaudhuri, M., Georgson, and S., Kowta. 1995. Conceptualizing and operationalizing affect, reason, and involvement in persuasion: The ARI model and the CASC scale. Advances in Consumer Research 22: 440–447.
Carter, C. S., I. I. Lederhendler, and B. Kirkpatrick (eds.). 1997. The Integrative Neurobiology of Affiliation. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Vol. 807. New York: The New York Academy of Sciences.
Chaiken, S. 1980. Heuristic versus systematic information processing and the use of source versus message cues in persuasion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 39: 752–766.
Chaiken, S. 1987. The heuristic model of persuasion. In Social Influence: The Ontario Symposium. M. P. Zanna, J. M. Olson, and C. P. Herman, eds., 3–39, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Chaiken, S., and A. H., Eagley. 1983. Communication modality as a determinant of persuasion: The role of communicator salience. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 45: 241–256.
Chaudhuri, A., and R., Buck. 1993. The relationship of advertising variables to analytic and syncretic cognitions. In Marketing Theory and Applications. R. Varadarajan, and B. Jaworski, eds., 193–198, Chicago, IL: American Marketing Association.
Cook, S., L., Peterson, and D., DiLillo. 1999. Fear and exhilaration is response to risk: An extension of a model of injury risk in a real-world context. Behavior Therapy 30: 5–15.
Cox, E. P., M. S., Wogalter, and S. L., Stokes. 1997. Do product warnings increase safe behavior? A meta-analysis. Journal of Public Policy and Marketing 16: 195–204.
Deppa, S. W., and B. J., Martin. 1997. Human factors behind the improved ANSI Z535.3 label standard for safety symbols. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. 41st Annual meeting.
deTurck, M. A., G. M., Goldhaber, and G. M., Richetto. 1993. Familiarity and awareness: Effects of conscious and nonconscious safety information. Journal of Products Liability 14: 341–350.
deTurck, M. A., G. M., Goldhaber, and G. M., Richetto. 1995. Effectiveness of alcohol beverage warning labels: Effects of consumer information processing objectives and color of signal word. Journal of Products and Toxics Liability 17: 187–195.
Eckerman, I. 2004. The Bhopal Saga – Causes and Consequences of the World’s Largest Industrial Disaster. India: Universities Press.
Fischer, P. M., J. W., Richards Jr., E. J., Berman, and D. M., Krugman. 1989. Recall and eye tracking study of adolescents viewing tobacco advertisements. Journal of the American Medical Association 261(1): 84–89.
Gabrielsen, M. A., and M., Spivey. 1990. Diving Injuries: The Etiology of 486 Case Studies with Recommendations for Needed Action. Fort Lauderdale, FL: Nova University Press.
Givel, M. 2007. A comparison of the impact of US and Canadian cigarette pack warning label requirements on tobacco industry profitability and the public health. Health Policy 83: 343–352.
Hammond, D., G. T., Fong, R., Borland, K. M., Cummings, A., McNeill, and P., Driezen. 2007. Text and graphic warnings on cigarette packages: Findings from the International Tobacco Control Four Country Study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 32: 202–209.
Hastings, G., and L., MacFadyen. 2002. The limitations of fear messages. Tobacco Control 11: 73–75.
Kosfeld, M., M., Heinrichs, P. J., Zak, U., Fischbacher, and E., Fehr. 2005. Oxytocin increases trust in humans. Nature 435: 673–676.
Lazarus, R. 1991. Progress on a cognitive-motivational-relational theory of emotion. The American Journal of Psychology 46: 819–834.
LeDoux, J. E. 1994. Memory versus emotional memory in the brain. In The Nature of Emotion: Fundamental Questions. P. Ekman, and R. J. Davidson, eds., 311–312, New York: Oxford University Press.
LeDoux, J. E. 1996. The Emotional Brain: The Mysterious Underpinnings of Emotional Life. New York: Simon & Schuster.
MacKinnon, D. P., and L., Nohre. 2006. Alcohol and tobacco warnings. In Handbook of Warnings. M. S. Wogalter, ed., 669–685, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
MacLean, P. D. 1993. The cerebral evolution of emotion. In Handbook of Emotions. M. Lewis, and J. Haviland, eds., New York: Guilford Press.
Martin, B. J., and S. W., Deppa. 1997. Human factors in the revised ANSI Z535.4 standard for safety labels. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. 41st Annual meeting: 821–825.
McGrath, J. M., and C. W., Downs. 1992. The effectiveness of on-product warning labels: A communication perspective. For the Defense 1992: 19–24.
Petty, R. E., and J. T., Cacioppo. 1986. Communication and Persuasion: Central and Peripheral Routes to Attitude Change. New York: Springer Verlag.
Panksepp, J. 1993. Neurochemical control of moods and emotions: Amino acids to neuropeptides. In Handbook of Emotions. M. Lewis, and J. Haviland, eds., New York: Guilford Press.
Panksepp, J. 1994. A proper distinction between cognitive and affective process is essential for neuroscientific progress. In The Nature of Emotion: Fundamental Questions. P. Ekman, and R. J. Davidson, eds., 224–226, New York: Oxford University Press.
Peters, E., D., Romer, P., Slovic, K. H., Jamieson, L., Wharfield, C. K., Mertz, and S. M., Carpenter. 2007. The impact and acceptability of Canadian-style cigarette warning labels among US smokers and nonsmokers. Nicotine & Tobacco Research 9: 473–481.
Piaget, J. 1971. Piaget’s theory. In Handbook of Child Development, Vol. I , P. Mussen, ed., New York: Wiley.
Ramakant, B. 2008. Pictorial warnings on tobacco products most likely postponed 7th time, India. Medical News Today. Online at http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/130966.php (Accessed 2008/11/27)
Sherif, M. 1965. Formation of social norms. In Basic Studies in Social Psychology. H. Proshansky, and B. Seidenberg, eds., 461–471, New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Tucker, D. M. 1981. Lateral brain function, emotion, and conceptualization. Psychological Bulletin 89: 19–46.
White, R. W. 1959. Motivation reconsidered: The concept of competence. Psychological Review 66: 297–333.
Wogalter, M. S., and K. R., Laugherty. 1996. WARNING! Sign and label effectiveness. Current Directions in Psychological Science 5: 33–37.
Wogalter, M. S., S. S., Fontenelle, D. R., Desaulniers et al. . 1987. Effectiveness of warnings. Human Factors 29: 599–612.
Zuckerman, A., and S., Chaiken. 1998. A heuristic-systematic processing analysis of the effectiveness of product warning labels. Psychology and Marketing 15: 621–642.
Zuckerman, M. 2007. Sensation Seeking and Risky Behavior. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Buck, R., Davis, W.A. (2010). Marketing Risk: Emotional Appeals Can Promote the Mindless Acceptance of Risk. In: Roeser, S. (eds) Emotions and Risky Technologies. The International Library of Ethics, Law and Technology, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8647-1_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8647-1_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-8646-4
Online ISBN: 978-90-481-8647-1
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawPhilosophy and Religion (R0)