Politics, fear, and persuasion: an analysis of institutional advertisements during the pandemic

Abstract

This research examines institutional advertisements disseminated during the COVID-19 pandemic for the purpose of obtaining and analysing the main features of the spots, which were combined in order to create a symbology of fear. A mixed approach involving content and discourse analysis has been used, in which a total of 19 advertisements were selected and decoded based on their metadata, explicit content or formal features, framing, and advertising objectives. More than half of the spots use fear as a persuasive factor, and concern is instilled by incorporating common features of aesthetics and symbolism in terms of form, content, and expressive resources. This study clearly demonstrates that due to the absence of other frameworks, fear was used as the preferred emotion for engaging in political persuasion during the pandemic, and that a climate of fear was created by using combined features aimed at spreading thanatophobia, or the fear of disease.