An evaluation of the effectiveness of traffic safety campaigns discusses theories of attitude change, the state -of-the-art of communication variables, fear appeals and traffic safety propaganda, and describes two (a one-way and a two-way) communication models. It is recommended that: propaganda should be evaluated during the communication process to ensure that resources are not wasted on ineffective propaganda, and that the message is not doing more harm than good; safety campaigns should be designed to facilitate evaluation and acceptance; fear appeals should be used with great caution, and only when specific solutions to the threatened consequences can be included in the message; references to the "road toll" should be greatly reduced; and that the potential value of concentrating all publicity on informative rather than persuasive campaigns, should be investigated.
Abstract