Fear mongering (or scaremongering or scare tactics) is the use of fear to influence the
opinions and actions of others towards some specific end. The feared object or subject
is sometimes exaggerated, and the pattern of fear mongering is usually one of
repetition, in order to continuously reinforce the intended effects of this tactic,
sometimes in the form of a vicious circle.
Advertisers have also entered the arena with their discovery that "fear sells". Ad
campaigns based on fear, sometimes referred to as shockvertising, have become