Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic (and its aftermath) highlights a critical need to communicate health information effectively to the global public. Given that subtle differences in information framing can have meaningful effects on behavior, behavioral science research highlights a pressing question: Is it more effective to frame COVID-19 health messages in terms of potential losses (e.g., “If you do not practice these steps, you can endanger yourself and others”) or potential gains (e.g., “If you practice these steps, you can protect yourself and others”)? Collecting data in 48 languages from 15,929 participants in 84 countries, we experimentally tested the effects of message framing on COVID-19-related judgments, intentions, and feelings. Loss- (vs. gain-) framed messages increased self-reported anxiety among participants cross-nationally with little-to-no impact on policy attitudes, behavioral intentions, or information seeking relevant to pandemic risks. These results were consistent across 84 countries, three variations of the message framing wording, and 560 data processing and analytic choices. Thus, results provide an empirical answer to a global communication question and highlight the emotional toll of loss-framed messages. Critically, this work demonstrates the importance of considering unintended affective consequences when evaluating nudge-style interventions.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 577-602 |
| Number of pages | 26 |
| Journal | Affective Science |
| Volume | 3 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Sept 2022 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Anxiety
- COVID-19
- Message framing
- Nudges
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In: Affective Science, Vol. 3, No. 3, 09.2022, p. 577-602.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - In COVID-19 Health Messaging, Loss Framing Increases Anxiety with Little-to-No Concomitant Benefits
T2 - Experimental Evidence from 84 Countries
AU - Dorison, Charles A.
AU - Lerner, Jennifer S.
AU - Heller, Blake H.
AU - Rothman, Alexander J.
AU - Kawachi, Ichiro I.
AU - Wang, Ke
AU - Rees, Vaughan W.
AU - Gill, Brian P.
AU - Gibbs, Nancy
AU - Ebersole, Charles R.
AU - Vally, Zahir
AU - Tajchman, Zuzanna
AU - Zsido, Andras N.
AU - Zrimsek, Mija
AU - Chen, Zhang
AU - Ziano, Ignazio
AU - Gialitaki, Zoi
AU - Ceary, Chris D.
AU - Lin, Yijun
AU - Kunisato, Yoshihiko
AU - Yamada, Yuki
AU - Xiao, Qinyu
AU - Jiang, Xiaoming
AU - Du, Xinkai
AU - Yao, Elvin
AU - Wilson, John Paul
AU - Cyrus-Lai, Wilson
AU - Jimenez-Leal, William
AU - Law, Wilbert
AU - Collins, W. Matthew
AU - Richard, Karley L.
AU - Vranka, Marek
AU - Ankushev, Vladislav
AU - Schei, Vidar
AU - Križanić, Valerija
AU - Kadreva, Veselina Hristova
AU - Adoric, Vera Cubela
AU - Tran, Ulrich S.
AU - Yeung, Siu Kit
AU - Hassan, Widad
AU - Houston, Ralph
AU - Lima, Tiago J.S.
AU - Ostermann, Thomas
AU - Frizzo, Thomas
AU - Sverdrup, Therese E.
AU - House, Thea
AU - Gill, Tripat
AU - Fedotov, Maksim
AU - Paltrow, Tamar
AU - Jernsäther, Teodor
AU - Koptjevskaja-Tamm, Maria
AU - Hostler, Thomas J.
AU - Ishii, Tatsunori
AU - Szaszi, Barnabas
AU - Adamus, Sylwia
AU - Suter, Lilian
AU - Habib, Sumaiya
AU - Studzinska, Anna
AU - Stojanovska, Dragana
AU - Janssen, Steve M.J.
AU - Stieger, Stefan
AU - Schulenberg, Stefan E.
AU - Tatachari, Srinivasan
AU - Azouaghe, Soufian
AU - Sorokowski, Piotr
AU - Sorokowska, Agnieszka
AU - Song, Xin
AU - Lewis, Savannah C.
AU - Sinkolova, Sladjana
AU - Grigoryev, Dmitry
AU - Drexler, Shira Meir
AU - Daches, Shimrit
AU - Geniole, Shawn N.
AU - Vračar, Selena
AU - Massoni, Sébastien
AU - Zorjan, Saša
AU - Sarıoğuz, Eylül
AU - Izquierdo, Sara Morales
AU - Alves, Sara G.
AU - Pöntinen, Sara
AU - Solas, Sara Álvarez
AU - Ordoñez-Riaño, Santiago
AU - Očovaj, Sanja Batić
AU - Onie, Sandersan
AU - Lins, Samuel
AU - Çoksan, Sami
AU - Sacakli, Asli
AU - Ruiz-Fernández, Susana
AU - Geiger, Sandra J.
AU - FatahModares, Saeideh
AU - Walczak, Radoslaw B.
AU - Betlehem, Ruben
AU - Vilar, Roosevelt
AU - Cárcamo, Rodrigo
AU - Ross, Robert M.
AU - McCarthy, Randy
AU - Ballantyne, Tonia
AU - Westgate, Erin C.
AU - Afhami, Reza
AU - Ren, Dongning
AU - Monteiro, Renan P.
AU - Reips, Ulf Dietrich
AU - Reggev, Niv
AU - Calin-Jageman, Robert J.
AU - Pourafshari, Razieh
AU - Oliveira, Raquel
AU - Nedelcheva-Datsova, Mina
AU - Rahal, Rima Maria
AU - Ribeiro, Rafael R.
AU - Radtke, Theda
AU - Searston, Rachel
AU - Habte, Redeate
AU - Zdybek, Przemysław
AU - Chen, Sau Chin
AU - Maturan, Princess Lovella G.
AU - Perillo, Jennifer T.
AU - Isager, Peder Mortvedt
AU - Kačmár, Pavol
AU - Macapagal, Paulo Manuel
AU - Szwed, Paulina
AU - Hanel, Paul H.P.
AU - Forbes, Paul A.G.
AU - Arriaga, Patrícia
AU - Paris, Bastien
AU - Papachristopoulos, Konstantinos
AU - Correa, Pablo Sebastián
AU - Kácha, Ondřej
AU - Bernardo, Márcia
AU - Campos, Olatz
AU - Bravo, Olalla Niño
AU - Galindo-Caballero, Oscar J.
AU - Ogbonnaya, Chisom Esther
AU - Bialobrzeska, Olga
AU - Kiselnikova, Natalia
AU - Simonovic, Nicolle
AU - Cohen, Noga
AU - Nock, Nora L.
AU - Johannes, Niklas
AU - Albayrak-Aydemir, Nihan
AU - Say, Nicolas
AU - Torunsky, Nathan
AU - Van Doren, Natalia
AU - Sunami, Naoyuki
AU - Rachev, Nikolay R.
AU - Majeed, Nadyanna M.
AU - Schmidt, Nadya Daniela
AU - Nadif, Khaoula
AU - Corral-Frías, Nadia S.
AU - Ouherrou, Nihal
AU - Pantazi, Myrto
AU - Lucas, Marc Y.
AU - Vasilev, Martin R.
AU - Ortiz, María Victoria
AU - Butt, Muhammad Mussaffa
AU - Kabir, Muhib
AU - Muda, Rafał
AU - Tejada Rivera, Maria del Carmen Mc
AU - Sirota, Miroslav
AU - Seehuus, Martin
AU - Parzuchowski, Michal
AU - Toro, Mónica
AU - Hricova, Monika
AU - Maldonado, Mónica Alarcón
AU - Marszalek, Magdalena
AU - Karekla, Maria
AU - Mioni, Giovanna
AU - Bosma, Minke Jasmijn
AU - Westerlund, Minja
AU - Vdovic, Milica
AU - Bialek, Michal
AU - Silan, Miguel A.
AU - Anne, Michele
AU - Misiak, Michal
AU - Grinberg, Maurice
AU - Capizzi, Mariagrazia
AU - Espinoza Barría, Mauricio F.
AU - Kurfali, Merve A.
AU - Mensink, Michael C.
AU - Harutyunyan, Mikayel
AU - Khosla, Meetu
AU - Korbmacher, Max
AU - Adamkovič, Matúš
AU - Ribeiro, Matheus Fernando Felix
AU - Terskova, Maria
AU - Hruška, Matej
AU - Martončik, Marcel
AU - Voracek, Martin
AU - Čadek, Martin
AU - Frías-Armenta, Martha
AU - Kowal, Marta
AU - Topor, Marta
AU - Roczniewska, Marta
AU - Oosterlinck, Marlies
AU - Kohlová, Markéta Braun
AU - Paruzel-Czachura, Mariola
AU - Romanova, Marina
AU - Papadatou-Pastou, Marietta
AU - Lund, Maria Louise
AU - Antoniadi, Maria
AU - Jones, Marc V.
AU - Ortiz, Manuel S.
AU - Manavalan, Mathi
AU - Muminov, Abdumalik
AU - Kossowska, Małgorzata
AU - Friedemann, Maja
AU - Wielgus, Magdalena
AU - Varella, Marco A.C.
AU - Colloff, Melissa F.
AU - Bradford, Maria
AU - Vaughn, Leigh Ann
AU - Eudave, Luis
AU - Vieira, Luc
AU - Pineda, Lina Maria Sanabria
AU - Pérez, Laura Calderón
AU - Lazarevic, Ljiljana B.
AU - Jaremka, Lisa M.
AU - Kushnir, Elizaveta
AU - Anton-Boicuk, Lisa
AU - de Holanda Coelho, Gabriel Lins
AU - Ahlgren, Lina
AU - Levitan, Carmel A.
AU - Micheli, Leticia
AU - Volz, Leonhard
AU - Stojanovska, Marija
AU - Boucher, Leanne
AU - Samojlenko, Lara
AU - Delgado, Lady Grey Javela
AU - Kaliska, Lada
AU - Warmelink, Lara
AU - Rojas-Berscia, Luis Miguel
AU - Yu, Karen
AU - Wachowicz, Jakub
AU - Desai, Kermeka
AU - Barzykowski, Krystian
AU - Kozma, Luca
AU - Evans, Kortnee
AU - Kirgizova, Komila
AU - Agesin, Bamikole Emmanuel
AU - Koehn, Monica A.
AU - Wolfe, Kelly
AU - Korobova, Tatiana
AU - Klevjer, Kristoffer
AU - van Schie, Kevin
AU - Vezirian, Kevin
AU - Damnjanović, Kaja
AU - Thommesen, Katrine Krabbe
AU - Schmidt, Kathleen
AU - Filip, Katarzyna
AU - Grzech, Karolina
AU - Beaudry, Jennifer L.
PY - 2022/9
Y1 - 2022/9
N2 - The COVID-19 pandemic (and its aftermath) highlights a critical need to communicate health information effectively to the global public. Given that subtle differences in information framing can have meaningful effects on behavior, behavioral science research highlights a pressing question: Is it more effective to frame COVID-19 health messages in terms of potential losses (e.g., “If you do not practice these steps, you can endanger yourself and others”) or potential gains (e.g., “If you practice these steps, you can protect yourself and others”)? Collecting data in 48 languages from 15,929 participants in 84 countries, we experimentally tested the effects of message framing on COVID-19-related judgments, intentions, and feelings. Loss- (vs. gain-) framed messages increased self-reported anxiety among participants cross-nationally with little-to-no impact on policy attitudes, behavioral intentions, or information seeking relevant to pandemic risks. These results were consistent across 84 countries, three variations of the message framing wording, and 560 data processing and analytic choices. Thus, results provide an empirical answer to a global communication question and highlight the emotional toll of loss-framed messages. Critically, this work demonstrates the importance of considering unintended affective consequences when evaluating nudge-style interventions.
AB - The COVID-19 pandemic (and its aftermath) highlights a critical need to communicate health information effectively to the global public. Given that subtle differences in information framing can have meaningful effects on behavior, behavioral science research highlights a pressing question: Is it more effective to frame COVID-19 health messages in terms of potential losses (e.g., “If you do not practice these steps, you can endanger yourself and others”) or potential gains (e.g., “If you practice these steps, you can protect yourself and others”)? Collecting data in 48 languages from 15,929 participants in 84 countries, we experimentally tested the effects of message framing on COVID-19-related judgments, intentions, and feelings. Loss- (vs. gain-) framed messages increased self-reported anxiety among participants cross-nationally with little-to-no impact on policy attitudes, behavioral intentions, or information seeking relevant to pandemic risks. These results were consistent across 84 countries, three variations of the message framing wording, and 560 data processing and analytic choices. Thus, results provide an empirical answer to a global communication question and highlight the emotional toll of loss-framed messages. Critically, this work demonstrates the importance of considering unintended affective consequences when evaluating nudge-style interventions.
KW - Anxiety
KW - COVID-19
KW - Message framing
KW - Nudges
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85147715208&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s42761-022-00128-3
DO - 10.1007/s42761-022-00128-3
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85147715208
SN - 2662-2041
VL - 3
SP - 577
EP - 602
JO - Affective Science
JF - Affective Science
IS - 3
ER -