Emotional Appeals
Abstract
Emotional appeals are concerned with message design elements that evoke an affective response to motivate or persuade audiences. This chapter begins by covering conceptual and theoretical issues surrounding emotions and emotional appeals. Next, it reviews research on five major categories of emotional appeals: fear appeals, guilt appeals, anger appeals, hope appeals, and humor appeals. It addresses some of the ethical concerns that come with using emotional appeals in persuasion. Finally, it concludes with a discussion of limitations and directions for future research on emotional appeals.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Psychology of Social Influence
Media Influence and Health
Behavioral Health and Interventions
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Routledge eBooks
- Pages
- 112–131
- Publication date
- 3 March 2026
- Language
- EN
- Document type
- Book chapter