Inoculation Theory as a Strategic Tool

Ivanov, Bobi; Parker, Kimberly A.; Dillingham, Lindsay L.

doi:10.1002/9781119399926.ch1

Cited by 11 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…Much of the basic and applied work on inoculation theory has taken place in the contexts of politics (Compton & Ivanov, 2013) and health (Compton et al., 2016), but increasing attention is being paid to other contexts (for a comprehensive review, see Ivanov et al. [2020]), with contested and politicized science in general, and misinformation about science in particular, now seeing unprecedented attention (e.g., Cook et al., 2017; Lewandowsky & van der Linden, 2021; van der Linden, Leiserowitz, et al., 2017). Accordingly, this is an opportune time to engage in a critical review of inoculation theory research in these areas.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inoculation theory in the post‐truth era: Extant findings and new frontiers for contested science, misinformation, and conspiracy theories

Compton

Linden

Cook

et al. 2021

Social & Personality Psych

115

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Although there has been unprecedented attention to inoculation theory in recent years, the potential of this research has yet to be reached. Inoculation theory explains how immunity to counter‐attitudinal messages is conferred by preemptively exposing people to weakened doses of challenging information. The theory has been applied in a number of contexts (e.g., politics, health) in its 50+ year history. Importantly, one of the newest contexts for inoculation theory is work in the area of contested science, misinformation, and conspiracy theories. Recent research has revealed that when a desirable position on a scientific issue (e.g., climate change) exists, conventional preemptive (prophylactic) inoculation can help to protect it from misinformation, and that even when people have undesirable positions, “therapeutic” inoculation messages can have positive effects. We call for further research to explain and predict the efficacy of inoculation theory in this new context to help inform better public understandings of issues such as climate change, genetically modified organisms, vaccine hesitancy, and other contested science beliefs such as conspiracy theories about COVID‐19.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inoculation theory in the post‐truth era: Extant findings and new frontiers for contested science, misinformation, and conspiracy theories

Compton

Linden

Cook

et al. 2021

Social & Personality Psych

115

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…But in reality, people are exposed to various conflicting messages about HPV vaccination (e.g., hearsay, conspiracy theories). Therefore, it is necessary to test whether refutational messages are effective in attack messages that talk about other issues to see blanket effects of inoculation [ 51 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Immunize the HPV Vaccine Rumors: Effects of Inoculation Messages and Tone of Voice on Parental Intention to Vaccinate Their Children

2022

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The purpose of this study was to develop an effective health communication strategy to guide the decision-making process of parents considering getting their children HPV vaccines. Using inoculation theory and findings on tone of voice as theoretical frameworks, the present study conducted a 2 (message type: inoculation vs. supportive) × 2 (tone of voice: human voice vs. organizational voice) mixed experiment with a total of 231 U.S. parents (either mother or father of a child eligible for the HPV vaccine). The results revealed that HPV vaccination promotions based on the inoculation message were more likely to generate positive attitudes toward the vaccination, higher intention to vaccinate their children, and higher intention to spread positive word of mouth (WOM) about HPV vaccination. Also, HPV vaccination promotions in the human voice were likely to increase the WOM intention more than those in the organizational voice. In regard to an interaction effect, human voice turned out to be more effective than organizational voice to generate the WOM intention when it comes to supportive messages; inoculation-based messages were similarly effective across the human and the organizational voice condition.

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“…Messages using the principles of inoculation theory have been researched since the early 1960s (see Ivanov et al, 2020). The basic explanation for how the theory works is that message recipients receive a weakened dose of the content of a future persuasive message (hence the name "inoculation"), which generates a perception that the person's held attitude could be threatened.…”

Section: Inoculation Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While the applied contexts of inoculation theory extend well beyond crisis communication (see Ivanov et al, 2020), message utility as a pre-crisis communication strategy has been consistently demonstrated. Operating on the idea that a preemptive inoculation message can insulate positive stakeholder attitudes from forthcoming attack in the form of a crisis event, scholars have demonstrated the efficacy of inoculation messages in several crisis contexts.…”

Section: Inoculation Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Operating on the idea that a preemptive inoculation message can insulate positive stakeholder attitudes from forthcoming attack in the form of a crisis event, scholars have demonstrated the efficacy of inoculation messages in several crisis contexts. These include insulating investor buy-and-hold attitudes prior to stock market volatility (Dillingham & Ivanov, 2017), protecting confidence in public agencies ahead of political violence (Ivanov et al, 2016), and preserving corporate reputation in the face of an accident or misdeed (see Ivanov et al, 2020).…”

Section: Inoculation Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Embracing Opportunity and Bracing for the Future: Renewal Discourse and Inoculation

Dillingham

2023

Management Communication Quarterly

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This paper explores the potential to address mid-crisis communication needs in longitudinal crises by using a paired renewal discourse and inoculation messaging strategy. While renewal discourse focuses on inherent opportunities and the possibility for organizations to improve following a crisis, insulating stakeholder views from ongoing and future crisis effects with inoculation messaging during the crisis can improve the durability of positive outcomes. Theoretically driven rhetorical analysis is used to examine stakeholder communication from one of the two firms that survived The Weekend Wall Street Died in September 2008, a midpoint in the 18-month global financial meltdown. The results demonstrate mid-crisis as a distinct communication exigency and the applied use of a paired renewal discourse and inoculation strategy as a crisis and ongoing risk management approach.

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Inoculation Theory as a Strategic Tool

Cited by 11 publications

References 60 publications

Inoculation theory in the post‐truth era: Extant findings and new frontiers for contested science, misinformation, and conspiracy theories

Inoculation theory in the post‐truth era: Extant findings and new frontiers for contested science, misinformation, and conspiracy theories

Immunize the HPV Vaccine Rumors: Effects of Inoculation Messages and Tone of Voice on Parental Intention to Vaccinate Their Children

Embracing Opportunity and Bracing for the Future: Renewal Discourse and Inoculation

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