Reconsidering the Effectiveness of Fear Appeals: An Experimental Study of Interactive Fear Messaging to Promote Positive Actions on Climate Change

Figures & data

Figure 1. Conceptual model of the current study.

Table 1. Regression models testing the moderated mediation effect (N = 236)

	Psychological Reactance (B)	Message Elaboration (B)	Intention to take actions against climate change (B)
Intercept	2.40***	4.56***	3.07***
Vicarious Message interactivity^a	−0.28*	0.03	−0.02
Psychological reactance	/	−0.13***	−0.00
Message elaboration	/	/	0.30***
Environmentalism	−0.49**	/	0.53***
Message interactivity * Environmentalism	−0.24	/	−0.01
Adjusted R^2	0.12***	0.10***	0.63***

* p <.05, **p <.01, ***p < .001. ^aStatic = 0, interactive = 1.

Table 2. Mediation analysis

	B(SE)	95% LLCI	95% ULCI
Indirect effect of message interactivity on intention to conduct actions against climate change
Vicarious Message interactivity ^a → Reactance → Behavioral intention
	0.01 (0.01)	−0.01	0.03
Vicarious Message interactivity → Message Elaboration → Behavioral intention
	0.02 (0.03)	−0.05	0.09
Vicarious Message interactivity → Reactance → Message Elaboration → Behavioral intention
	0.03 (0.01)	0.01	0.06

^aStatic = 0, interactive = 1.