The present study investigates the effectiveness of fear appeals, including type of punishment (social disapproval vs. fines), probability of getting caught when shoplifting, and severity of the punishment, in preventing shoplifting among adolescents. Results show that when the chance of getting caught is low, social punishment messages should stress severe levels of social disapproval. When social disapproval messages imply a high probability of apprehension, the severity of social rejection does not affect shoplifting intentions. Finally, messages focusing on fines should depict large instead of small fines, irrespective of the communicated probability of getting caught.