Fear Appeals in Advertising

This paper aims to find out the reasons for usage of fear appeals in advertising in Latvia. In addition, via semiotic analysis, the author tries to find out the semiotic tools present in all the commercials. What is more, by a simple survey the general response of the society is also measured. The author finds that the most common reasons for using fear appeals is the ability of such advertising to promote discussion in the society. What is more, the author finds that the semiotic tools used are mainly those, which create dramatic effect to the commercial. In addition, the research shows that the society finds such advertising acceptable, but has no positive emotions towards the companies that use such advertising.