What happens when public health messages carry no feeling?
When platforms reward emotional content and public health messaging stays flat, people follow health guidance less in an emergency.
Hypotheses.
What the paper argues, written so it can be tested.
- H1
In a health emergency, people follow guidance more closely when the message speaks to their fears and hopes than when the same guidance is written in flat, technical language.
- H2
Health agency posts with a positive tone and clear steps get shared more than flat or fear-based posts, and people who see them lean less on social media for health advice.
The model.
Guidance starts as science at federal agencies, passes through states, and reaches people as local messages that carry little feeling. Social media rewards emotional posts, so flat guidance gets little reach, people turn to charged sources, and adherence drops. The paper proposes adding emotional resonance to close the gap.
Partial abstract.
Audiences engage with and remember content that speaks to what they care about, and the emotional gap between government and public weakens health messaging. The paper argues that emotionally neutral messaging lost ground to sensational misinformation during COVID-19, and proposes that closing that gap would raise adherence in future emergencies.
Addressing the Emotional Deficit in Public Health Messaging: Implications for Emergency Preparedness and Public Response
Key sources
- Slovic, P., Finucane, M., Peters, E., and MacGregor, D. G. (2002). The affect heuristic.
- Paletz, S. B. F., et al. (2023). Emotional content and sharing on Facebook: A theory cage match. Science Advances.
- Malecki, K. M. C., et al. (2021). Crisis communication and public perception of COVID-19 risk in the era of social media. Clinical Infectious Diseases.
How we’ll test it.
No results yet. This is the plan: the data, the measure, and what would count as support.
The data
Health agency posts and press releases from the COVID-19 pandemic, with their shares and comments, alongside survey data on whether people followed the guidance.
The measure
The emotional tone of each message, scored for valence, arousal, and appeal to people’s concerns, and adherence in the weeks after it went out.
What would count as support
Messages with more emotional resonance get shared more and come before higher adherence, after accounting for trust, access, and politics.
How it connects to Pulp.
Pulp’s research on emotion in public messaging.
Continues as a special project: Emotion in COVID press releases
Also in Engagement
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J.F., Mercy University
Doing work like this?
Students from any school or field, and mentors from academia or industry: get in touch.