Freshwater Harmful Algal Blooms (HABS) Public Health Message Efficacy Evaluation

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) can present health risks to humans, animals, or ecosystems. Communicating with the public about HABs risks can be challenging because symptoms vary in type and severity across different individuals. However, people with underlying health conditions are often particularly vulnerable to exposure, and they may experience negative health outcomes if they lack awareness of the risks that HABs pose. Literature on risk communication suggests that the way messages are framed influences the impact on risk perception and behavioral intentions. To provide insight into how agencies and practitioners can more effectively communicate health risks from HABs, we designed and experimentally evaluated the efficacy of cognitive and emotional message frames of this HABs risk communication effort. We conducted an online survey to test our hypothesis that the use of emotional message frames enhanced awareness of HABs risks, especially among people with underlying health conditions. Our results demonstrated that while both cognitive and emotional frames are effective, the emotional frame yielded greater results at enhancing risk perceptions, especially for the respondents with underlying health conditions. This research provides insight into how to expand science communication approaches by including emotional frames and increasing the efficacy for populations with underlying health conditions, the people most vulnerable to impacts from HABs exposure.