This inquiry explored (a) the degree to which an inverted-U pattern of fear response predicted persuasion, (b) the extent to which the fear curve moderated the effects of the four components of threat appeals on persuasion, (c) the correspondence between the static measures of fear employed in between-subjects designs and the dynamic indices needed by the within-subject approach, and (d) the methodological threats inherent to dynamic designs. Participants (N = 418) read a message that endorsed colorectal cancer screening. Results displayed that the inverted-U fear curve predicted intention to obtain a colonoscopy, and that susceptibility and response efficacy applied their impact on persuasion via the fear curve while severity and self-efficacy did not. The static measure of fear displayed poor absolute correspondence with the peak and end indices of dynamic fear, but strong pattern correspondence. Hazards to inference posed by dynamic designs of the type employedd in this study seem negligible.