How Can E-Cigarette Fear Appeals Improve the Perceived Threat, Fear, Anger, and Protection Motivation of Young People

Abstract

The lack of awareness regarding the risks of e-cigarettes and the misleading business propaganda caused an increase in the popularity of e-cigarettes among young people. The effective communication of the risks associated with e-cigarettes is an important part of current work to control their usage, and the use of fear appeals is an effective method to achieve good control. Based on the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM) and Appraisal-Tendency Framework (ATF), this article presents a 2 × 2 control experiment to test the impact of fear appeals on the perception of risk, emotions, and behavioral motivation of young people aged 35 and less. A total of 333 valid samples of adolescents and young adults were included to investigate the different response paths to fear appeals among young people of different age, sex and smoking history. The results show that high-threat, high-efficacy fear appeals are able to: (1) significantly increase young people’s perception of the e-cigarette-associated threats, (2) trigger fear and anger amongst young people, and (3) stimulate their self-protection motivation. Fear appeals do not have an impact on young people’s perception of efficacy, regardless of their level of threat and efficacy. High fear appeals can also increase young people’s perception of threat, which in turn enhances their anger and protection motivation. Furthermore, while this type of fear appeal can enhance young women’s perception of efficacy, it cannot enhance the perception of e-cigarette risks in adolescents, young men and young smokers, regardless of their level of threat and efficacy. Young non-smokers have a higher perception of the risks involved in the use of e-cigarettes compared with young smokers.