scare tactic

English

Noun

scare tactic (plural scare tactics)

1. (psychology) A type of psychological manipulation regrading a particular issue in which fear or alarm is aroused.
   • 2018 January 2, Samantha D. Gottlieb, “9. The “Tragically Underused” Vaccine”, in Not Quite a Cancer Vaccine. Selling HPV and Cervical Cancer, New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, →DOI, →ISBN, page 143:

     Invoking cancer is a scare tactic, not a health education strategy. The juxtaposition in the various iterations of Gardasil advertisements of the word “cancer” and the message “you can do something” put parents in a blameworthy position. The current advertisements for Gardasil 9 hardly mention the vaccine. Instead, in these ads children blame their parents for their failure to protect them from a potentially fatal illness.