Fear @Solsticepublish

I was paying bills today and my wife texted me asking what I was doing.  When I told her she jokingly said, “That sounds like fun.”  It reminded me of something I learned in Persuasion Class back in college.  It is the one appeal that is stronger in advertising than any other.  I am referring to the fear appeal.  It has a stronger draw than sex, desire for gain and basic need combined!  I noticed it as I was paying the bills.  I wasn’t paying because I wanted to give my money away.   I wasn’t paying out of a need to make to payee happy.  I wasn’t paying because doing so is something basic humans need to do.  And I certainly wasn’t doing it because it made me feel good about myself.  I was paying bills because of that fear deep down inside.  You know that fear.  “What if I forget to pay this and they start calling me!  Or maybe it will end up on my credit score!  We can’t be having that now, can we?  So even though they weren’t due for another week or so, I paid them now so I wouldn’t have to worry about it in the future.  The fear of the consequences made me pay the bills.  Advertisers have been tapping into this for years.  It works so well on us because it strikes that common human trait…fear.  I love life insurance salesmen.  Their opening line is always, “If something happened to you, is there enough insurance on you to take care of your family for the rest of their lives?  No one is actually going to say “Yes” in their heads because you never will feel like you have enough insurance to take care of your family.  Then you start to worry about all the horrible things that could happen to your family if something happened to you.  Once the fear is there, the salesman or commercial as it may be shows you how “affordable caring for your loved ones can be.”  Kind of evil…isn’t it?  Even if you buy the policy, you still will worry that it won’t be enough.  I have mentioned this before in blogs but car repair places are the same way.  They tell you “It doesn’t have to be fixed now but I would do it soon or it could cause an accident.”  My favorite, of course is, “You need to have this done to make it safe to drive.”  When you hear that you immediately start imagining all the horrible things that could happen to your family in the car.  If you have the means, 9 times out of 10 you have the repairs done.  Again, you don’t do it to feel good.   You do it so you won’t worry when your family is in the car.  Isn’t it funny how advertisers and salesmen like to stress the fear of loss to someone close to you?  In general, people will forgo what could be called luxury expenses for themselves.  When it comes to those you love, however, the checkbook is open.  Let’s face it.  The insurance salesman doesn’t say, “Hey, if you die without enough insurance I bet you’ll feel stupid.”  Actually you won’t feel anything.  You’ll be dead!  Now the ones you leave behind, that’s where the fear strikes.  I wish this method was not so effective but it is.  In fact I just remembered another bill I need to pay.  I better do that quick!