It has been suggested that divergent effects of fear arousal on attitude change can be caused by variations in the recommendations in a persuasive communication. In a 3-way factorial design Ss were presented with communications manipulating fear of tetanus and the perceived effectiveness and painfulness of inoculation against tetanus. Inoculation was recommended for all Ss. It was expected that more Ss would take shots described as highly effective and not painful, and that this tendency would change as level of fear was increased. The manipulations of effectiveness and painfulness were perceived as intended, but they did not affect intentions to take shots or shot-taking behavior. The fear manipulation influenced both intentions and behavior, with higher fear producing greater compliance with the recommendations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)