Author Date

2026-06-17

Degree Name

Department

Biology

College

Life Sciences

Defense Date

2026-06-05

Publication Date

2026-06-17

First Faculty Advisor

Dr. Chad Hancock

First Faculty Reader

Dr. Kevin John

Honors Coordinator

Dr. Pamela Brubaker

Keywords

chronic disease, type 2 diabetes, advertising, fear-campaign, fear-arousal, extended parallel processing model

Abstract

Chronic disease refers broadly to a group of diseases that develop and progress as individuals age, that last 1 or more years, and that require ongoing medical attention or limit activities of daily living, or both (“About chronic diseases,” 2026). Chronic disease is most often associated with years of compounding effects of poor nutrition and physical inactivity. Since negative emotion-based advertising, also known as “fear campaigns,” have been shown to be effective forms of communication for other health related topics (Huang et al, 2017), we sought to test a fear campaign’s potential to discourage unhealthy physical activity practices in young adults in order to mitigate chronic disease as they age. We presented 24 adults ages 18 to 30 with one of three advertisements that varied in level of fear evocation (low, medium, and high) and surveyed their perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, response efficacy, self-efficacy, and physical activity. Surveys occurred before viewing of the advertisement, immediately after viewing, and two weeks after viewing. We hypothesized that a higher fear-arousal advertisement would result in a stronger emotional response, increased recollection, and greater reported behavioral change than a lower fear-arousal advertisement. While the reported emotional response was higher in the medium to high fear-arousal condition compared to the low fear-arousal condition, a similar pattern for advertisement recall did not appear and we identified no significant relationship between fear-arousal condition and reported exercise level.