Health Communication, 25: 580, 2010 Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 1041-0236 print / 1532-7027

7 online DOI: 10.1080/10410236.2010.496829

Fear Appeals and Public Service Advertising: Applications to Inuenza in Hong Kong
Wanda Siu
School of Journalism and Communication Chinese University of Hong Kong

Public service advertising has been extremely useful in educating the public about problems of social signicance and changing public beliefs, attitudes, and behavior (OKeefe & Reid, 1990). Public service advertisements (PSAs) are a communication form similar to advertisements that often appear on donated media space. Recent studies have examined the persuasive effects of PSAs. In particular, fear appeals (threat messages that arouse some fear) have been applied to public health problems. Some studies show that fear appeals work (Helmes, 2002), whereas others show that fear appeals are effective only under certain conditions (Witte & Allen, 2000). The Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM) has been applied to the study of at least two types of health behavior: preventive behaviors and screening behaviors. Preventive behaviors protect oneself from an unpleasant health threat. For example, condom use reduces the chance of contracting AIDS. Screening behaviors detect an abnormal health condition, such as detecting a cancerous lump in the breast. Some studies on health advertising have tested the effects of fear appeals on attitudes and behavior and have found that fear arousal and response efcacy conjointly promote intention to perform the health behavior against H5N1 infection and bacterial skin infection. Such research ndings have been given to the Hong Kong government. The Hong Kong governments public service advertising on health protection for avian inuenza has highlighted the efcacy measures to combat avian inuenza, while emphasizing the severity and debilitating outcome of an infection. Overall, an effective health-risk message has been shown to be based on clinical guidelines and includes all the information for patients to make well-informed health decisions,
Correspondence should be addressed to Prof. Wanda Siu, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, School of Journalism and Communication, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Humanities Building, Sha Tin, Hong Kong. E-mail: siuwanda@hotmail.com

which provide just enough threat to motivate actions, and feasible solutions to enhance patents perceived efcacy to combat the illness. The PSA has featured the threats associated with inuenza, such as it can be a serious illness to the weak and frail, such as elderly persons, and may be complicated by bronchitis, pneumonia, and even death in the most serious cases, and efcacy recommendations to combat the inuenza, such as maintain good personal hygiene such as wash hands properly; cover nose and mouth while sneezing or coughing; maintain good body resistance; avoid crowded public place; and get inuenza vaccine. A recent study on the inuenza vaccine uptake among older Chinese people in Hong Kongs ve general outpatient clinics found that more than 60% of the elderly patients reportedly have received the vaccine in the last 12 months (Kwong, Lam, & Chan, 2009). This implies that a PSA with a fear appeal message with feasible treatments and solutions to the health problem can enhance communications and compliance of recommended health behavior.

REFERENCES
Helmes, A. W. (2002). Application of the protection motivation theory to genetic testing for breast cancer. Preventive Medicine: An International Journal Devoted to Practice and Theory, 35, 453462. Kwong, E., Lam, I., & Chan, T. (2009). What factors affect inuenza vaccine uptake among community-dwelling older Chinese people in Hong Kong general outpatient clinics? Chinese Journal of Nursing, 7, 1. OKeefe, G. J., & Reid, K. (1990). The uses and effects of public service advertising. Public Relations Research Annual, 2, 6791. Witte, K., & Allen, M. (2000). A meta-analysis of fear appeals: Implications for effective public health campaigns. Health Education & Behavior, 27, 591615.

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