Why is it That Fear Motivates?
This blog entry was posted on March 1, 2009.
Ever notice that 90% of the evening news is negative. These are the stories that tell of disasters, fires, murders and thefts. Only about 10% are positive human interest stories. If they run out of negative news, they have stories about the anniversary of past tragedies. Ever notice that there is a story every August about the death of Princess Diana that recounts what happened?
They do this because this gives the TV networks the best ratings. If they didn’t, they would lose their audience. Why is that?
We are naturally alert to danger. Fear is tied to worry and anxiety. People move away from those things that they fear. This can drive some forward to achieve and succeed. Fear can also stop others as they give up in a feeling of helplessness.
Fear is a powerful motivator. We live our lives according to the fear that most affects us. This can be the fear of losing something good or the fear of something bad happening. We are driven to be aware of and to avoid the negative.
People buy insurance to prepare for some disaster that might happen. People undergo cosmetic surgery for fear they will look unattractive. Health fears cause people to give up smoking. Studies have shown that fear of failure motivates stronger than the allure of success.
Fear of a shorter life or being unattractive cause people to diet. Yet as people lose weight and feel better, they become less motivated and typically stop.
In marketing, fear catches people’s attention. They will then listen to your message and pay attention to your solution. Using deadlines causes people to take action for fear of being left out.
Should fear be used as a motivator? Now that is a whole different topic.
If You Like this posting please +1 it!
No related posts.
Filed under: Internet Marketing
This entry was posted on Sunday, March 1st, 2009 at 6:09 am and is filed under Internet Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.No Comments
RSS feed for comments on this post. | TrackBack URL
That is a really fantastic and insightful read, Doug.
Comment by Adam Bullock — March 2, 2009 @ 9:30 am