Colin's Digital Research Blog

Claim : Women above the age of 30 have increased mental stress when watching cable news due to it’s fear-inducing segments.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Independent Variable : The News channels and Which days we chose to record the news for the experiment. Dependent Variable :  What news stories does the channel decide to show.  How the women will react to the shown stories.  Controlled Variable: I decided to use the same sequence the news stories were reported to show to the women. This is so that the experiment is performed the in the least biased way possible.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Prototype: -I decided to utilize construct 3 and code an app that would basically be a questionnaire. It would portray a series of news segments from one of the news channels that was shown that same day.  -After the user enters their name and age they will be sent to a page which shows...

For Assignment B, I've decided on the hypothesis that cable news networks use fear-inducing stories to gain more media attraction, but at the cost of their viewer's mental health; especially in women above the age of 30. I worked this into the claim below: Claim :  "Women above the age of 30 have increased mental stress when watching cable news due to its fear-inducing segments. " Media Dependency theory is used by media outlets as a tool to attract and keep high viewership. A key element of Media Dependency theory surrounds the idea that feeling like you are in a state of crisis leads a person to be more reliant on mass media for information.  Prototype :  I am still ideating the prototype I will use however I do know that I will be measuring Fear in this experiment, which I would need to somehow obtain from viewers of cable news.  In addition, I would need to figure out which cable news channels to choose from. I am considering just looking up who has the highest v...

Prototype Thesis Propositions: 1) Hypothesis: Using a customized app that limits one's access to their digital media will lessen a high schooler's reliance on media (Media dependency Theory).  -By studying the media dependency theory framework, can using a customized app that prevents one’s access to their digital device lessen a high schooler’s reliance on media or worsen it? +We can study the framework of media dependency theory and see if media's influence on the individual creates a sort of withdrawal, or lessens the effects.  Prototype : a phone app where you set a timer Problem - this sort of prototype works, whether it's an app or a safe with a timer on it, however studies on media dependency is still limited.  ___________________________________________________________________________ 2) Can implementing classroom learning with AR platforms help increase memorizing information for middle school students? (Implementing AR platforms/tools into a classroom setting)...

AR/VR technologies effectively engage and evoke empathy in users that can be harnessed by nonprofit organizations to encourage positive social change.  By Irina Bokun in 2020 Irin wanted to talk about how augmented and virtual reality can assist in developing consumer empathy for nonprofit needs. Her study examines the effects of using AR/VR and how much empathy it can invoke in the user. She wants to argue that AR/VR technology is the most effective means of bridging non profit orgs and their understanding of consumer empathy. One issue that arises is how VR/AR technology is associated with expensive experiences limited to entertainment purposes, such as the Oculus or Pokemon Go. For her prototype, she creates an app that basically acts as a search engine for non-profit orgs where you can use your smart divide to enter the environment in VR, navigate in augmented reality, or use geolocation filters. She even tests her prototype on a local dog park for the "Piedmont Park Conservan...

 Project B Part A: I found this interesting student thesis relating to political science; focusing on social media's effects mainly on the Obama McCaine Election of 2008. Please note that this research is over a decade old and may be prone to being outdated.  The Effect of Social Media Networks On Political Marketing  -By Sarah Khan in 2011 -Sarah primarily focused her thesis on how the rise of social media brought new forms of outlets for politicians to market their campaigns. Social Networking sites are used by more than half the US every day and so utilizing that would be a great advantage in the electoral forum. She used numerous examples from John McCain and Barack Obama's 2008 presidential election and studied statistics regarding their political content on social networks regarding forums, discussions, and propaganda. In addition, she looks at ethnicity, spending costs, user interactions on platforms, and other aspects that may affect online political conversations...

 Project B Part A: I will attach two articles in this one post because they are conceptually similar, with one pertaining to augmented reality being utilized in a museum setting, while the other refers to using projection mapping in a similar matter.  The Museum of Tomorrow: Using 3D Gaming and Projection Mapping to Create the Next Generation of History Museum Exhibits -By Jeffrey L. De Boer in 2015 Summary: Jeffery believes that our current/newest generations process information in newer ways and Museums aren't utilizing the latest technologies to teach this specified group of people. In his words, he wanted to propose innovative entertainment-based approaches to history-museum-exhibits by utilizing video game software, hardware, and cutting-edge projection mapping techniques. He emphasizes in his research his interest in using projection design. He notes that museums do use this idea, but there is no interactivity with the viewers. He continues to list a process which h...

It was difficult searching for the origins or founders of Fear Appeal Theory. After vigorous research I found an article written in 1974 that briefly highlights the studies and experiments utilizing fear appeal data as far back as 1953. Before then, it seems that it was common knowledge that fear was a form of marketing persuasion however there were no studies to back that opinion.  Sternthal, B., & Craig, C. S. (1974). Fear Appeals: Revisited and Revised. Journal of Consumer Research , 1 (3), 22–34. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2488776

From my research, fear appeal is most effective when used in relation to health care, which is why there is such an abundance of its usage in the recent pandemic. I wanted to dedicate a section of the essay to how fear appeal is used in such cases, and list the benefits/consequences that are proposed by various studies. Below I have two lists, The Positives and Negatives that Fear Appeal has in a Medical Setting Positives of Fear Appeal in a Medical Setting -"Threatening health messages are popular in health education design. For example, the introduction of health warnings on cigarette packages in 2002 was accompanied by wide-scale media attention on television, radio and in newspapers throughout Europe. Soon after the introduction of these messages, national polls were presented that suggested that people smoked less because of the new health warnings.” (Ruiter, 2014) -”These appeals are effective at changing attitudes, intentions and behaviors. There are very few circumstances ...

For the second section of my essay, I will be talking about how Fear Appeal is used in Marketing. As such, I compiled all of my findings together from various sources to help isolate the best way of explaining, and to communicate to the readers as efficiently as possible.  Fear Appeal In Marketing 1- Fear appeals have been employed in advertising of products and services. It dominated areas such as life insurance, road accident campaigns, promoting political causes, drug-prevention commercials, and in the development of social awareness of serious concerns (Latour & Zahra, 1988), such as the COVID-19 and other public health-related issues. (Addo et al., 2020) -When Should I Use the Fear Appeal? 2- "particularly if there are consequences for not purchasing a product. For example, if you sell fire extinguishers and your advertising strategy is to show how you may save your family members’ lives if you have an extinguisher during a fire, you are appealing to a fear in consumers t...

Below I compiled all of my sources and made a list of quotes defining the purposes and uses for 'Fear Appeal'. My intentions are to list out all of my findings and compile them into my narrative for the first segment Fear Appeal Definitions: 1- “Fear Appeal persuades people to feel that they are assuming a risk if they do or do not purchase a certain product. The idea is that if consumers don’t use the product you are advertising, you make them feel like there may be undesirable consequences as a result.”(Newbold, 2017) 2- “They found fear appeals to be effective, especially when they contained recommendations for one-time only (versus repeated) behaviors and if the targeted audience included a larger percentage of women. They also confirmed prior findings that fear appeals are effective when they describe how to avoid the threat (e.g., get the vaccine, use a condom).” (Tannenbaul et al., 2015) 3- "According to fear appeal theories, a fear appeal is defined as a message th...

 "COVID-19: fear appeal favoring purchase behavior towards personal protective equipment" This article found a direct correlation between People's purchase behavior and public fear appeal during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Abstract : "With a serial mediated analysis, we established that fear appeal is associated with the sharp dynamics in the online purchase as related to the COVID-19. The results confirmed that fear appeal promotes social presence in anticipation of seeking affection, acceptance, and social information. This feeling is a precondition for developing e-loyalty, which promotes purchase behavior. Even though our variables might not be conclusive enough, we believe the findings are fundamental to understanding the swings in the purchase trend in this and any similar situations." PPE stockpiling and it's negative effects: "Countries like Singapore (INSEAD, 2020) and Australia (BBC, 2020), among others, have been hit with panic buying and stockpi...

"How Fear Appeal Approaches in COVID-19 Health Communication May Be Harming the Global Community" This journal is actually the first one I read that labels Fear Appeals as 'Scare Tactics' so perhaps there may be some biased perceptions in this study. Nevertheless, the data they provide is important and I will be noting some of it's points in my essay.   Notes: Abstract: "Fear appeals, also known as scare tactics, have been widely used to promote recommended preventive behaviors. We contend that unintended negative outcomes can result from fear appeals that intensify the already complex pandemic and efforts to contain it. We encourage public health professionals to reevaluate their desire to use fear appeals in COVID-19 health communication and recommend that evidence-based health communication be utilized to address the needs of a specific community, help people understand what they are being asked to do, explain step-by-step how to complete preventative beh...

"Sixty years of fear appeal research: Current state of the evidence" This journal study gives an in-depth study of fear appeal theory including how it works in marketing and health settings, theories that contradict, and how to assess it effectively.  Abstract:  "Following a brief overview of the use of fear arousal in health education practice and the structure of effective fear appeals according to two main theoretical frameworks—protection motivation theory and the extended parallel process model—the findings of six meta-analytic studies in the effectiveness of fear appeals are summarized." "Threatening health messages are popular in health education design. For example, the introduction of health warnings on cigarette packages in 2002 was accompanied by wide-scale media attention on television, radio and in newspapers throughout Europe. Soon after the introduction of these messages, national polls were presented that suggested that people smoked less becaus...

 "Appeal to fear in health care: appropriate or inappropriate?" This article is written by a chiropractic scholar and it appears that people rarely use fear appeal for false advertising however sees this occur more so in his line of work.  Findings: AIM: This paper examines appeal to fear in general: its perceived positive aspects, its negative characteristics, its appropriate as well as its fallacious use. "Appeal to fear is a commonly used marketing method that attempts to change behaviour by creating anxiety in those receiving a fearful message. It is regularly used in public health initiatives such as anti-smoking, anti-drunk driving campaigns as well as in hypertension awareness campaigns. " Using appeal to fear as a tool of persuasion can be valid or fallacious depending on the truth of the premises within the argument. Dear Appeal in Marketing: "Marketers use a variety of methods in an effort to persuade target audiences to modify behaviours in the inter...