Do not push me to eat insects! Investigating consumer responses to fear appeal in the context of insect-based foods

Abstract

In the context of promoting insect-based foods (IBFs), persuasive messages often go beyond highlighting their nutritional and environmental benefits by emphasizing broader global issues to underscore the necessity of integrating these novel foods into our diets. However, limited research has investigated the impact of such messages on consumer acceptance. Given that these messages may evoke fear responses among individuals, building on existing literature on fear appeal, the present research aims to address this gap by investigating how these fear appeal messages influence the persuasiveness of typical benefit-based communications. In Study 1, we presented preliminary evidence that fear appeal elicits psychological reactance among individuals, and that this effect is mediated by increased perceived freedom threat. In Study 2, we replicated these findings in a more realistic advertising context, showing that fear appeal can negatively impact consumer acceptance of IBFs sequentially through perceived freedom threat and psychological reactance. Overall, these findings enhance our understanding of consumer responses to fear-based messaging in the context of promoting IBFs and offer valuable implications for guiding effective communication campaigns.