Now that I have read through this chapter, it’s amazing how often I see forms of Appeal to Emotion used in advertisements and more recently, political campaigning. The appeal to fear piqued my interest, because of the recent election. I was recently invited to participate in a focus group which asked a panel of registered voters their opinions on proposed gubernatorial commercials. We were shown a number of ads, from both sides, and asked to provide detailed reaction or response. The ads that were not directly aimed at tearing down their opponent were well received, and in most cases, presented an argument regarding the strengths and platform stance of the candidate; while other more negative ads commonly used an ‘appeal to fear’. An appeal to fear, as explained by Espstein, “can be your sole legitimate factor for making a decision”. I believe these advertisements are used more often in campaigning because they bring into question the candidates; experience and motive, honesty and integrity, and they evoke a sense of concern to issues that may directly involve you. Here are a few of the ads we reviewed in the focus group.
First off, great post! When I discussed an "appeal to fear" in one of my posts, I also focused on political ads. I liked how you compared the general public opinion between the attack/non-attack ads and found that people generally responded in a negative way to the ads that used an "appeal to fear". Now that the election is finally over, we won't have to see the constant commercials anymore. Anyways, you did a good job in explaining the concept of an "appeal to fear" and used a very understandable current topic (politics) that is known for using such a concept in their arguments.
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