THREAT APPEALS IN ROAD SAFETY TV ADVERTISEMENTS AND THEIR IMPACT ON EMIRATI YOUTH: AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

Back to Page Authors: Hebatalla El Semary, Mai Al Khaja

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Keywords: threat appeals, road safety advertisements, Emirati youth, quasi-experiment

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Abstract: Due to long -standing reliance upon negative, fear-based appeals in road safety advertising, this study attempts to examine the effectiveness of threat appeals in persuading Emirati road users to change their attitudes and behaviour in the short and long run. To measure the effectiveness of the threat advertising message, a quasi-experiment was designed including two groups of Emirati students. Each group is composed of 100 Emirati students selected from two universities. Students were asked to complete a questionnaire at varying time intervals as the persuasive effects of an advertising message may vary over time. On the other hand, 6 focus group were constituted. Seven issues related to the impact of road safety ads on young Emiratis were raised and discussed and students proposed a number of suggestions that could help in making road safety awareness more efficient. The findings showed that road safety ads based on threat appeals have positive effects in the short term, but these effects diminish over time. Evidence suggests that threat appeals may influence females rather than males, despite the fact that many of these messages intend to target male road users.

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