The Effects of Regulatory Focus and Fear Appeal on the Effectiveness of Advertisement: A Study of Helmet Utility on Taiwan College Students

Wearing safety helmets on riding motorcycles has become a main concern in Taiwan. In Japan (2006), the death rate caused by wearing no helmet is 0.0057%; In Korea (2006), the death rate is 0.0131% and In Taiwan (2006), the death rate is 0.0175% (National Police Agency, 2009). But relevant studies concerning how regulatory focus and fear appeal succeed in improving audiences’ purchasing intention is limited. In this study, the helmet is taken to be the research object and an accomplishment is made to identify the effects of regulatory focus and fear appeal on advertisement effectiveness. The conceptual framework is developed by referring to a chain of literature reviews and hypotheses developments. An experiment by using 2 (promotion vs. prevention of regulatory focus) X 2 (high vs. low of fear appeal) is conducted. The results indicate that high fear advertisements increase participants’ ad believability and ad likability. Similarly, promotion focused advertisements enhance participants’ ad believability and ad likability. Moreover, fear level and regulatory focus interact significantly on ad believability and ad likability. As expected, these ad believability and ad likability significantly influence participants’ attitudes and behavioral intentions.