Affect arousal and positioning of recommendations in persuasive communications

Visitors to a state exposition were exposed to fear communications and recommendations on dental hygiene. It was expected that acceptance would be greater after high than low fear, if recommendations were positioned so as to be associated with fear reduction. Recommendations were placed in the communications before, intermixed with, or following the fear stimuli. Results showed that the higher the level of fear, the higher the level of acceptance. Fear reactions to high-fear stimuli were decreased by adding recommendations and by moving the recommendations from before, to intermixed with, to after the fear stimuli. However, this positioning of the recommendations had no effect on acceptance, suggesting that acceptance does not depend on fear reduction. (29 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).