Like other ads, public service announcements frequently rely on emotion-laden messages to involve viewers. But the tactic can backfire. Researchers at the University of Missouri measured viewers' attention levels while they watched two dozen highly charged anti-tobacco ads. Some of the 30-second ads, created from 1998 to 2002, showed frightening images-an emphysema sufferer gasping for air, for instance. Others showed grisly scenes: an artery oozing during surgery or a diseased lung in a tray.rnBoth the scary ads and the blood-and-guts spots engaged the subjects (58 nonsmoking students) more effectively than anti-smoking ads that lacked emotional content. And they were easier for the subjects to recall accurately. But when a TV spot was both frightening and gory, the students' attention wandered and their recall was poorer.
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