Dread
Ads and videos written to this emotion: 53. 45 make the Say move, 4 make the Avoid mistake.
The Emotion Map's entry, written for B2B buyers.
What it is
Heavy anticipation of something bad you expect is coming. It often grows as it gets closer.
Where it shows up
A growth target the company will miss, with the board meeting already in the calendar.
Sounds like
"Next quarter's review is going to be a hard conversation."
Say
A concrete action with a date before the thing they dread. Fear appeals had roughly twice the effect when the message said people could take the recommended action or that it would work (Tannenbaum and colleagues 2015, 248 samples).
Avoid
Amplifying the threat without the step. Fear appeals that left out that assurance had about half the effect.
In consumer ads
Say: A concrete action with a date or moment, taken before the thing the reader dreads: a step for this week, before the season, the trip or the bill arrives.
Avoid: Amplifying the threat without the step: the accident, the illness or the loss shown in full, and nothing the reader can do about it.
Doing it right
Ads that make the Say move.
Aspirin tablets ad, al-Musawwar 1935
'Beware, this is the shiver of a cold' names the warning in the rain, and the man's own reply sets act and moment: an Aspirin tablet tonight, before the cold takes hold.
All fuel is scarce, plan for winter now poster
"All fuel is scarce" names the cold winter ahead, then "Plan for winter now" gives three numbered steps before it arrives: winterize the home, check the heating plant, order fuel at once.
Careem: make your commute the coffee-break kind
'We got Saturday done, but who is going to get Sunday done' names the workweek dread in dialect, then gives one act for that morning: ride to work with Careem and stop for coffee.
Detroit Federal Theatre "It can't happen here" poster, Sinclair Lewis
It turns the date line into an open threat, 19??, beside a jackbooted soldier over the map, then aims the bayonet at one dated act: a reserved seat on Tuesday Oct 27 at popular prices.
International Correspondence Schools courses ad, al-Kawakib 1933
Seven portraits of one man trace a salary that climbs and then falls with age, and the coupon gives one act before the slide: write now for the free booklet on the chosen course.
"Don't wait" syphilis treatment poster
'Don't wait' and '70% are doomed' when treatment waits three years make delay the danger, and a single banner fixes the moment to act before it: consult a reputable physician now.
Bayer Protargol eye drops ad, al-Ithnayn wa al-Dunya 1939
It names the mother's summer threat, eye disease carried by flies and heat, over a close photo of a child's eyes, and a curved arrow leads to one act: Bayer's Protargol drops for him.
Every Young Wife Must Make This Decision beauty ad
It dates the loss at one, five and ten years, blames the strain of new responsibilities rather than the wife, and ends with a two-step routine: Cold Cream at night, Vanishing Cream each morning.
Aspro tablets ad, al-Kawakib 1940
The headline lists flu, colds, fever and sore throat spreading and ends on 'get ready', then names the act: buy Aspro today, take two with hot lemon, from 5 millimes.
Morton's Iodized Salt ad, 1926
Against goiter afflicting up to 50% of school children in many communities, it gives one act at the grocer today: swap to the iodized salt that tastes no different, plus a free prevention booklet.
Peps cold tablets ad, al-Lataif al-Musawwarah 1925
It names what a neglected cold becomes, lost strength and serious chest illness, and sets the act at a moment: dissolve a Peps tablet at the first headache, sore throat or sneeze.
"The Thin Khaki Line" recruiting poster
It names a danger readers already knew, the fate of Belgium, sets only a thin line between it and their own hearth, and gives one act to thicken that line: get into khaki now.
تسوق انت وعائلتك في جرير قبل الزحمة
It names the pre-school rush parents see coming and gives a concrete step ahead of it: come to the festival now, in the quiet hours, with the VAT covered.
اعلان جلات كريم فرد الشعر فى الثمانينات
Frizzy hair with a wedding coming is the dreaded moment, and the friend's there is still time plus Gellat cream gives a step before it, shown by tight curls turning smooth.
Doing it wrong
Ads that make the Avoid mistake.
Sinclair Lewis It Can't Happen Here theatre poster, 1936
The year 19?? under a bayonet-armed soldier and a map of America makes the threat feel near, and the only step offered is a seat at the Lafayette Theatre on Oct. 27.
Fear with no step to take
Libres de miseria, US Four Freedoms poster in Spanish
The same home held safe in one hand turns into ruins and a skull chained to a swastika ball in the other, and the poster names the threat but gives the reader no step.
Fear with no step to take
The Sowers poster, Year of Peril series
The giant scattering human skulls like seed across a burning field shows only the death to come; the poster carries no buy line, amount or step, so the threat is all the reader keeps.
Fear with no step to take
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