Abstract
Where the intention in road safety propaganda is to persuade an audience to adopt recommended behaviour, rather than simply to inform them about it, it is common to make use of different appeals, often emotional ones, in an attempt to make the communication more persuasive. A great deal of propaganda material that has been produced in different countries is examined and it is apparent that eight such appeals are in reasonably common use. These appeals are: horror; rational/factual; family responsibility; authority/prestige; famous personality; satire; and sex. The three most successful appeals are horror, family responsibility and factual. See also IRRD abstract no. 208624.