Appeals: Positive Emotions

In the realm of emotional, health‐oriented persuasive appeals, negative emotions, fear in particular, have received the lion's share of attention. However, there has been increasing interest in harnessing the power of positive emotions to motivate meaningful health behavior change. The persuasive influence of both hope and amusement has been of greatest interest, with some emerging interest in pride and gratitude. A description of each of these four emotions and the state of the literature for each as related to health messaging are reviewed.