Fear Marketing

Often in advertising companies will use fear to convince people to buy their product or service. The idea of fear marketing has become really big since companies have seen how people will practically run out to get a product or service if they are scared they will be caught without it and somehow find themselves embarrassed or even in trouble if they don’t have this product.

One company that has recently started doing fear marketing is DirecTV. They have started a new campaign called “don’t be” and they show commercials on TV of all the horrible things that could happen to you if you don’t get DirecTV and in the end they say “don’t let that happen to you” or something along those lines.

They’re using the fear of all these horrible things that could happen to you scare you into going out and buying DirecTV. It seems that the “don’t be” ad’s are working well for Directv since they have 6 of these commercials running right now since they first started the ad campaign a few years ago. The other thing these commercials have going for them is that they’re funny, which is another appeal to them. Simply doing a fear commercial could freak people out so this campaign is a good mix of funny and fear. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2WM0W1PPU0

-Mare

Fear is an interesting emotion because it affects all of our thought processes and reactions. It is often used in marketing because it is a unique marketing tool in order to make consumers loyal to a particular product or a service.

It is motivating because it grabs the attention of consumers by combining “credible threats with doubt and uncertainty.” Two companies that use fear to motivate sales are the fast food companies Chipotle and Panera. They use the technique of presenting customers a false and misleading view of modern day agriculture because they are trying desperately to separate themselves from other fast food restaurants such as McDonalds. Specifically Chipotle, which has a slogan of “Food with Integrity,” uses fantasy based portrayal of what modern day agriculture really is. A common thought customers have is that “If I don’t make a decision now, our world will become dark, and dreary with chickens getting puffed up with injections, and cows being locked in metal boxes.”

The general thought is that people watch videos relating to the abuse of animals when they are being raised for food processing reasons. Chipotle uses the disgust and fear people have of these ideas and use them in their advantage, saying their way of processing the food is more humane and that they have better agriculture processes. This, in turn, allows people to feel like they should go to Chipotle instead of other restaurants like McDonalds.

-Chatty Charlie

Smoking is a large market, targeted primarily at youth. Constantly in need of new customers as their consumers get older and pass away due to cancer related illnesses. According to the “Center for Disease Control and Prevention” since 2010 it has been shown that approximately 20% of individuals between the ages of 18-24 will become smokers. Many Anti-Smoking campaigns have been created in order to show youth what will become of them if they smoke. Campaigns showing elderly people with emphysema from smoking over the years, unfortunately has been un-relatable to todays’ youth.

Cigarette companies target market 18-24, have the mentality that they are invincible and will not become ill from cigarettes. Recently the US Food and Drug Administration have created ads with individuals closer to the target customer’s age range to resonate with them. Becoming a smoker will cause negative health effects in the short and long term. These new fear ads show the short term effects smoking cigarettes will cause to your health - teeth and skin. Cigarettes are not only a costly item but will take away from youth by causing premature aging and lack of control in your life. Are you willing to lose that control to a pack of cigarettes? Take control of your life and live above the statistic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbmDGr3AEs0

-Mary

WWF uses fear tactics in their campaign to raise awareness of serious issues and to make the threat real and personal.

The combinations of powerful images that make us rethink how our actions are negatively affecting the environment with threatening and thought provoking phrases such as “before it’s too late” reinforces their message with fear. Fear tactics are controversial yet effective because they use shocking methods to spread their mission and provoke an emotional reaction in the viewer. WWF targets issues we do not normally acknowledge in order to make us reconsider how we are treating our environment and its species.

-Shani

Who doesn’t own a cell phone?  It is said that 91% of adults are the heavy users in today’s technology trend.  We use cell phones for everyday usage whether it’s a business call, talking to friends and family, surfing the web, texting or watching your favorite television show Revenge.  

And since many of us are anti-talkers, we tend to text more than actually talking on the phone. This is where cell phone companies are able to profit.  The fear technique is avoiding the overage fees, if you are a heavy user and to purchase a more expensive data plan that will suit your needs.  Also I think the fear is within itself that most of us feel that we can’t live without our cellular devices but even more so that we can’t live without knowing what’s going on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram and that in itself is a fear for users.  Since users feel they need to stay connected it allows the phone companies to lower their prices to reel you in and then increase it.

-KeAnna