Effective Instructional Risk Communication in the Time of Ebola

• In Event: Health Messages, Framing, and Public Behavior

Abstract

This project focuses on receiver-focused messages developed to elicit appropriate actions amid a public health crisis, the 2014 Ebola outbreak. The IDEA model emphasizes the need for effective instructional messages during a public health crisis. Effective instructional communication is measured by receiver outcome achievement of affective (perceived value), cognitive (comprehension) and behavioral (performance) variables. This study employs message-testing, incorporating exemplars in tandem with technical instructional information in an experimental group (the exemplar being the case of Thomas Duncan, Liberian national who died as a result of Ebola in Dallas, TX) against an instructional message using only technical information to assess the effectiveness of exemplification with instructional messages, particularly as it taps into internalization (perceived value) and elicits the desired response from message receivers. The study helps public relations practitioners understand how to best present accurate information while increasing the likelihood that individuals exposed to these messages will respond appropriately.

Authors

• Amiso M. George, TCU

• Deborah Dee Sellnow-Richmond, Wayne State University

• Deanna Dee Sellnow, U of Kentucky