Abstract

Negative emotional appeals are used frequently to change behaviours and direct them to serve the purposes of individuals or societies. Certain studies have shown that negative emotional appeals, which include guilt and fear, have the ability to change the behaviour of individuals. On the other hand, some argue for using positive emotion appeals to steer consumer behaviour instead of negative emotional appeals amidst continued debates weighing the effectiveness of warning messages that some government agencies or departments might compel producers to put on product packaging, which usually use fear or threat to positively change and alter consumer behaviour and raise their awareness of consumption risks. This article studies the effectiveness of certain warning messages that the Ministry of Health compels producers to write on cigarette packs; and reviews the effects of negative emotional appeals on a smoker’s behaviour on both the short and the long term. The study concludes that reading these warning messages only managed to affect or change the behaviour of a limited percentage of 14.7% of the total number of smokers who have actually read them. The study also uncovered a negative correlation between smoking and both education level and income level; when levels of education and/or income increase, this brings about a relative decrease in smoking and a stronger desire to quit. It was also found that the male participants showed a particular interest in smoking imported cigarettes on a daily basis while the female participants showed no such interest in smoking a certain type of cigarettes.

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