Assessing the Link between Memorable Messages and COVID-19 Risk Mitigation

• In Event: The Politics of Public Health Crises: COVID-19 Policymaking and Beyond

Abstract

Risk communication presumes that the messages a person receives about a given risk are internalized and influence their attitudes and behaviors. The goal of this study is to illuminate the “internalization” process of messages related to the COVID-19 pandemic, as informed by three sets of literature: the Narrative Policy Framework, “memorable messages,” and risk perception and communication. Using data collected through a three-wave panel survey, we examine (i) the content of what respondents remember (i.e. their “memorable messages”) from their COVID-19 risk messaging environment, (ii) their affective response to the memorable message, (iii) the extent to which the message is narrative in form, and (iv) the extent to which the respondent engages in various risk mitigation behaviors. We hypothesize that people will communicate memorable messages related to the pandemic in the form of narratives that can be analyzed systematically, and that affect mediates the extent to which an individual engages in risk mitigation behaviors. The panel data were collected from a representative sample of residents in six U.S. states (Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Washington) in May/June, August, and October 2020. Our findings more clearly articulate the micro level of the NPF by identifying ways that individuals construct narratives and assess whether they are associated with changes in behavior.

Authors

• Rob A. DeLeo, Bentley University

• Elizabeth Koebele, University of Nevada, Reno

• Kristin Taylor, Wayne State University

• Elizabeth Ann Albright, Duke University

• Elizabeth Ann Shanahan, Montana State University

• Deserai Anderson Crow, University of Colorado Denver

• Honey Minkowitz, University of Nebraska Omaha

• Thomas A. Birkland, North Carolina State University