Information Source and Cigarettes: Experimental Evidence on the Messenger Effect

Maclean, Johanna Catherine; Buckell, John; Marti, Joachim

doi:10.3386/w25632

Cited by 10 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…First, our participants knew our nudges were part of a research study. However, how people respond to information depends on which entity delivers that information [18,33]. Our nudges might be more or less effective depending on how people perceive the entity administering the nudges.…”

Section: Discussion and Future Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing Adoption of Tor Browser Using Informational and Planning Nudges

Story

Smullen

Chen

et al. 2022

Proceedings on Privacy Enhancing Technologies

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Browsing privacy tools can help people protect their digital privacy. However, tools which provide the strongest protections—such as Tor Browser—have struggled to achieve widespread adoption. This may be due to usability challenges, misconceptions, behavioral biases, or mere lack of awareness. In this study, we test the effectiveness of nudging interventions that encourage the adoption of Tor Browser. First, we test an informational nudge based on protection motivation theory (PMT), designed to raise awareness of Tor Browser and help participants form accurate perceptions of it. Next, we add an action planning implementation intention, designed to help participants identify opportunities for using Tor Browser. Finally, we add a coping planning implementation intention, designed to help participants overcome challenges to using Tor Browser, such as extreme website slowness. We test these nudges in a longitudinal field experiment with 537 participants. We find that our PMT-based intervention increased use of Tor Browser in both the short- and long-term. Our coping planning nudge also increased use of Tor Browser, but only in the week following our intervention. We did not find statistically significant evidence of our action planning nudge increasing use of Tor Browser. Our study contributes to a greater understanding of factors influencing the adoption of Tor Browser, and how nudges might be used to encourage the adoption of Tor Browser and similar privacy enhancing technologies.

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Section: Discussion and Future Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing Adoption of Tor Browser Using Informational and Planning Nudges

Story

Smullen

Chen

et al. 2022

Proceedings on Privacy Enhancing Technologies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A better public health strategy might focus less on the details of the messages and more on the 'messenger' or the information source. Studies in behavioural economics have shown how messengers who are authority figures, share similar characteristics with and are likable to the target individuals, tend to be more successful in getting their messages across and, in turn, change individuals' choices and behaviours (37,38). Given that part of the social-identity effects is explained by political identity, non-mask wearers might be more willing to listen to a message about face mask's effectiveness from an authoritative figure in the Republican party or non-political figures who share similar characteristics or are generally well-liked by non-mask wearers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

When Face Masks Signal Social Identity: Explaining the Deep Face-Mask Divide During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Powdthavee¹,

Riyanto²,

Wong³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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With the COVID-19 pandemic still raging and the vaccination program still rolling out, there continues to be an immediate need for public health officials to better understand the mechanisms behind the deep and perpetual divide over face masks in America. Using a random sample of Americans (N=615), following a pre-registered experimental design and analytic plan, we first demonstrated that mask wearers were not innately more cooperative as individuals than non-mask wearers in the Prisoners’ Dilemma (PD) game when information about their own and the other person’s mask usage was not salient. However, we found strong, revealed preference evidence of in-group favoritism among both mask and non-mask wearers when information about the other partner’s mask usage was known. Holding other things constant, non-mask wearers were 23 percentage points less likely to cooperate than mask wearers when facing a mask-wearing partner, and 26 percentage points more likely to cooperate than mask wearers when facing a non-mask wearing partner. Our analysis suggests social identity effects to be one of the main drivers of people’s decision whether to wear or shun face masks during the pandemic. Policy makers should therefore take social perception of face masks into account when designing not only what public messages to deliver, but also who to deliver these messages.

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“…The second component of the analysis considers the role of messengers as moderators of the message (Druckman, 2001b). The tendency of individuals to alter how they process information based on characteristics of the person delivering the message has been widely studied in behavioral economics, psychology, and marketing (Dolan, P., Hallsworth, Halpern, King, Metcalfe, & Vlaev, 2012;Maclean, Buckell, & Marti, 2019;Kassin, 1983;Wood, Solomon, & Englis, 2005). These literatures have amassed evidence which suggests we are more likely to comply with directives when they come from authoritative sources (Hofling, C., Brotzman, Dalrymple, Graves, & Pierce, 1966), from people who are similar to us (Durantini, Marta, Dolores, Amy, Allison, & Jeffrey, 2006; Karlan & Appel, 2011), those viewed as experts (Webb & Sheeran, 2006), or messengers we find more likable (Cialdini & Cialdini, 1993).…”

Section: The Communication Frames Surrounding Social Distancingmentioning

confidence: 99%

To shop or shelter? Issue framing effects and social-distancing preferences in the COVID-19 pandemic

Deslatte

2020

JBPA

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As a result of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease (COVID-19), U.S. federal, state, and local governmental officials have struggled to coordinate consistent, coherent messaging for citizens to social-distance. The pandemic presents an important context for examining alternative communication frames employed by governments. This study presents results from an artefactual survey experiment in which public-health information regarding COVID-19 was transmitted to a panel of U.S. adult respondents via alternative issue frames and messengers. The findings highlight the importance of delivering consistent messages to the public. Public-health frames positively influence citizen preferences for avoiding unnecessary travel. Conversely, economic frames appear to have the opposite effect, increasing the preference to make unnecessary trips to shop. However, federal messengers appear to strengthen the framing effect relative to expert messengers.

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Information Source and Cigarettes: Experimental Evidence on the Messenger Effect

Cited by 10 publications

References 62 publications

Increasing Adoption of Tor Browser Using Informational and Planning Nudges

Increasing Adoption of Tor Browser Using Informational and Planning Nudges

When Face Masks Signal Social Identity: Explaining the Deep Face-Mask Divide During the COVID-19 Pandemic

To shop or shelter? Issue framing effects and social-distancing preferences in the COVID-19 pandemic

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