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In COVID-19 Health Messaging, Loss Framing Increases Anxiety with Little-to-No Concomitant Benefits: Experimental
Charles A Dorison1, Jennifer S Lerner2,3, Blake H Heller2,4
1Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL USA.
Affective Science
|October 3, 2022
Summary
Framing COVID-19 health messages using potential losses, not gains, increased anxiety globally. This finding emphasizes considering emotional impacts in public health communication strategies.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Science
- Public Health Communication
- Global Health
Background:
- Effective communication of health information is crucial, especially during pandemics like COVID-19.
- Message framing can significantly influence public behavior and perceptions.
- Understanding optimal framing strategies is vital for public health interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To experimentally compare the effectiveness of loss-framed versus gain-framed COVID-19 health messages.
- To assess the impact of message framing on judgments, intentions, and feelings related to pandemic risks.
- To provide an empirical answer to the global communication question of message framing in health.
Main Methods:
- Cross-national experiment with 15,929 participants from 84 countries, data collected in 48 languages.
- Tested effects of loss-framed (vs. gain-framed) messages on COVID-19-related outcomes.
- Analyzed impacts across message variations and extensive data processing choices for robustness.
Main Results:
- Loss-framed messages significantly increased self-reported anxiety across participants globally.
- Message framing had minimal impact on policy attitudes, behavioral intentions, or information seeking.
- Results demonstrated consistency across countries, message variations, and analytical approaches.
Conclusions:
- Loss-framed health messages can increase anxiety without substantially improving behavioral outcomes or attitudes.
- Public health communication strategies should consider potential unintended affective consequences of message framing.
- The study highlights the emotional toll of loss-framed messaging in global health contexts.
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