Which communication strategy employs shame or guilt as a motivating factor?

The communication strategy that employs shame or guilt as a motivating factor is guilt-appeal. This strategy specifically aims to evoke an emotional response in the audience by highlighting the negative consequences of not adhering to health recommendations or behaviors. By creating a sense of guilt or shame, the approach encourages individuals to take action in order to alleviate these negative feelings, prompting them to make healthier choices.

In public health campaigns, guilt-appeal can be particularly effective when addressing behaviors such as smoking, unhealthy eating, or neglecting regular health check-ups. The emotional engagement created by eliciting guilt can serve as a powerful motivator, leading individuals to reconsider their actions and adopt healthier habits.

Gain-frame and loss-frame appeals focus on the benefits of positive behavior and the losses associated with negative behavior respectively, but they do not rely on feelings of shame or guilt as the driving motivational factor. Stigmatizing, while it may also invoke negative feelings, is more about labeling individuals or groups rather than using guilt directly to inspire change. Thus, guilt-appeal is the strategy that distinctly leverages these emotions to motivate health-related behavior change.