emphasizes the physical environment as the primary beneficiary of the behaviour. In contrast, the benefits and/or costs of behaviour that are associated with the self in relation to others are referred to as “social threats�. The concept of social and physical threats is derived from similar threat types used in fear appeals. Fear appeals, a strategy commonly used in social marketing, have been studied for decades and have been supported by research that demonstrate the effectiveness of fear arousal in influencing behavioural change (Donovan & Henley, 1997). Most of the existing research on social and physical threats relates to health behaviours. For example, Schoenbachler and Whittler (1996) have demonstrated that social threats, which rely on social disapproval messages, are more persuasive than physical threats in anti-drug use communications for adolescents. Wiley, Krisjanous, & Hutchings (2002) have found that the youth population tends to relate more favourably to social fear appeals than to physical fear appeals. Furthermore, studies on emotional arousal, such as fear, have demonstrated its significant role in determining behaviour. Emotional arousal in response to a cue leads to avoidance of behaviours that may have aversive consequences (Dienstbier, Hillman, Lehnhoff, Hillman, & Valkenaar, 1975; Weiner, 1980). In other words, the fear of punishment or disapproval results in the avoidance of behaviours that would lead to either consequence. Coke, Batson & McDavis (1978) have suggested that both cognition and emotional arousal interact to influence behaviour. Baumeister, Vohs, DeWall & Zhang (2007) have added that emotion indirectly causes behaviour by acting as a feedback system that facilitates the learning of associations between affect and behavioural responses.
18Â