Abstract
During health crises, misinformation may spread rapidly on social media, leading to hesitancy towards health authorities. The COVID-19 pandemic prompted significant research on how communication from health authorities can effectively facilitate compliance with health-related behavioral advice such as distancing and vaccination. Far fewer studies have assessed whether and how public health communication can help citizens avoid the harmful consequences of exposure to COVID-19 misinformation, including passing it on to others. In two experiments in Denmark during the pandemic, the effectiveness of a 3-minute and a 15-second intervention from the Danish Health Authorities on social media was assessed, along with an accuracy nudge. The findings showed that the 3-minute intervention providing competences through concrete and actionable advice decreased sharing of COVID-19-related misinformation and boosted their sense of self-efficacy. These findings suggest that authorities can effectively invest in building citizens’ competences in order to mitigate the spread of misinformation on social media.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Journal of Experimental Political Science |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages (from-to) | 327-342 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| ISSN | 2052-2630 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2024 |
Keywords
- COVID-19
- experiment
- intervention
- Misinformation
- public health communication