Evoked Fear Response Scale

What it measures

Measures the level of fear-related emotional arousal induced by exposure to a specific stimulus. Items capture feelings of fear, anxiety, nervousness, and fright using bipolar anchors. Higher scores reflect a stronger fear response. The scale is intended to assess momentary emotional states rather than dispositional fearfulness.

Scale items

• not fearful at all / very fearful
• not anxious at all / very anxious
• not nervous at all / very nervous
• not afraid at all / very afraid

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

Developed for use in health communication research, originally applied to graphic warning labels on cigarette packages. The scale stem asked participants how the package made them feel. Items were drawn from multiple prior scales; Andrews et al. (2014) cited Passyn and Sujan (2006) as a partial source. Suited for experimental contexts where a stimulus is designed to evoke fear, such as public health warnings, threat-based advertising, or risk communication.

Citation

Andrews, J. C., Netemeyer, R. G., Kees, J., & Burton, S. (2014). How graphic visual health warnings affect young smokers' thoughts of quitting. Journal of Marketing Research, 51(2), 165–183.