Hope and Fear in an Advertisement Context: Understanding How Hope Undoes Fear

The study investigates the oppositional prospect-based emotions of fear and hope in an advertisement context. The broaden-and-build theory of emotions provides a framework for establishing a theoretical link between fear and hope. The findings suggest that: (1) Fear narrows and hope broadens the thought–action repertoire; (2) age moderates the impact of a prospect-based measure of hope on behavioral change intentions and ad attitude; (3) three undoing strategies undo fear with hope, including personal action plans, social action plans of good deeds, and reframing in a positive light; and (4) when fear is high, hope is energized through self-focus, and when fear is low, hope is energized through a focus on others.