When are you scared the most? Effects of message personalisation and fear appeal on binge drinking youths in Singapore

• Main Authors: Ng, Cameron Hiang Liang, Huang, Sheryl Shumin, Tan, Adeline Kim Wen, Yip, En Sara-Jean
• Other Authors: Jung Younbo
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences::Communication
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/44237
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Binge drinking, defined as the excessive consumption of alcohol over a short period of time, has become a prevalent concern in Singapore amongst youths aged 18 to 25. Negative consequences of such behaviour threaten the health and safety of these youth binge drinkers. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of fear appeal and message personalisation on intention for developing responsible anti-binge drinking behaviour. To test our hypotheses, we conducted a 2 (fear: high vs. low) x 2 (personalisation: high vs. low) experiment (n = 100) using video stimuli that manipulate the degrees of fear and personalisation for the message of anti-binge drinking. Results showed that the participants who were exposed to the high fear message reported a higher level of fear arousal. In addition, participants who recognised their names and characteristics in the personalised condition were better able to identify themselves with the message, which resulted in a higher level of fear arousal. In other words, those participants who saw their names in the high fear message showed the highest level of fear arousal among the four different conditions. Finally, fear arousal was positively associated with intention for developing responsible drinking behaviour. The result of a mediation analysis confirms the paths among the variables. This finding implies that when personalised fear is delivered to the target audience, it is likely to make them scared the most, which can help them change their intention for any undesirable behaviour, particularly binge drinking behaviour in our study.