Before you continue reading this blog I have to warn you: ‘People have died when reading a blogpost’. I am not sure if this is entirely true, but since I live in Australia, I feel obligated to point out all possible risks. There seems to be a big tendency Down Under to warn you about the risk of dying. Driving your car? You could die. Walking on the train tracks? Your name on a cross. Droopy eyes? Drowsy drivers die. As a behavioural change professional from the Netherlands I have become fascinated by these Australian messages. So to what extend do these messages actually work?
The intention from these messages seems evident: they want to prevent it from happening. And some of them make sense right? We all know that driving a car brings some risk. But have you ever thought about the cords of your blinds or curtains? “Children have died from wrapping these cords around their neck.” And apparently that’s why every cord has to be labeled with this warning sign below. As a newcomer in Australia being surrounded by these red labels in my house feels kind of overdone. And at the same time it is allowed for push bikes to cycle on the highway in Australia. Isn’t that ironic?
So how effective is it to prime death in a message?
The aim of these messages is to prevent risky behaviour by using fear. However, there is a problem with these ‘don’t-do-this-appeals’: they activate the thought about the undesired behaviour. So, for example, the warning ‘do not climb on statue’, might activate the idea of climbing it. Here is a little exercise: ‘Do not think about a kangaroo with boxing gloves’. You see, that’s pretty hard to block. In the Netherlands this is probably the reason why scare tactics and death threats are not often used in campaigns. There seems to be a strong cultural consensus that this could potentially have a counter effect. However, an American meta-analysis on fear appeals published in 2015 concludes that using fear could positively influence attitude, intention and behaviour. So discrediting fear appeals as a whole seems to be too judgmental and it’s success might depend on cultural norms.
The subtleness of using fear appeals effectively
Fear in itself is a bad motivator to do the right thing. People that experience fear are generally less able to think logically, experience more uncertainty and will act more impulsively. That could potentially form a risk in itself. This is why you should be very careful when using fear appeals. Last year I heard a very interesting quote when I was talking to Michael Daddo from The Shannon Company. He said: ‘Fear is useless until you connect it with hope’. His marketing agency uses fear in some campaigns but gives the audience an alternative perspective. The video shown below shows how they managed to balance fear and hope. His statement is also backed by the meta-analysis mentioned above in which they found that fear appeals which suggested a hint to perform the desired behaviour were more effective. Blog continues below the video.
Should you use fear in your messages?
Whether fear helps you to get people to act, strongly depends on what fear appeal you use and what alternative you offer. Simply saying that people could die if they don’t comply, is probably not the way to get the desired outcome. Besides, if we would label all the possibilities that may cause death, we would probably have a lot of red tags around us. And that would make us numb for every warning.
If you want to facilitate change it is probably best to focus on the behaviour you want instead of what you don’t want. At BAAS we call this approach ‘Boosting behaviour’: focussing on the opportunities that can spark change. There are multiple ways to discover these opportunities. Curious how you can Boost behaviour and facilitate change in your organisation or project? More blogs will follow with tips about how to start boosting yourself. And if you see any funny signs or red labels with death threats, please send a photo to me. I collect them :-)
BAAS is a new company in Ballarat, Australia that aims to help organisations and governments to effectively change behaviour. Behavioural scientists have given us a lot of hints of how to change behaviour. Applying these insights is exciting and can drastically increase the effectiveness of a campaign or a project. You can apply these insights to boost change in your organisation but also on topics like sustainability, innovation, safety and transport. After successfully helping organisations with change in the Netherlands BAAS aims to make an impact in Australia now.