The Effectiveness of Narrative Versus Didactic Information Formats on Pregnant Women’s Knowledge, Risk Perception, Self-Efficacy, and Information Seeking Related to Climate Change Health Risks

Abstract

Climate change is a global threat that poses significant risks to pregnant women and to their developing fetus and newborn. Educating pregnant women about the risks to their pregnancy may improve maternal and child health outcomes. Prior research suggests that presenting health information in narrative format can be more effective than a didactic format. Hence, the purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of two brief educational interventions in a diverse group of pregnant women (n = 151). Specifically, using a post-test only randomized experiment, we compared the effectiveness of brief information presented in a narrative format versus a didactic format; both information formats were also compared to a no information control group. Outcome measures included pregnant women’s actual and perceived knowledge, risk perception, affective assessment, self-efficacy, intention to take protective behaviors, and subsequent information seeking behavior. As hypothesized, for all outcome measures, the narrative format was more effective than the didactic format. These results suggest the benefits of a narrative approach (versus a didactic approach) to educating pregnant women about the maternal and child health threats posed by climate change. This study adds to a growing literature on the effectiveness of narrative-based approaches to health communication.

Development of a Codebook of Online Anti-Vaccination Rhetoric to Manage COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation

“…While the literature is not uniform in its conclusions [ 53 , 54 ], there is evidence to suggest that narrative and perspectival persuasion can be more effective than factual–argumentative approaches [ 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 ]. Research shows that audience absorption into a narrative reduces the audiences’ capacity to form counterarguments against messages contained in the narrative [ 64 , 65 , 66 ] and tends to strengthen the persuasiveness of weak arguments and appeals [ 67 ].…”

“…Work in the field of public health messaging has demonstrated that messaging that focuses on narrative and rhetoric (form) tends to yield better persuasive outcomes than messaging that focuses on facts alone (i.e., content) [ 55 , 60 , 62 , 72 , 73 , 74 ]. A variety of studies from the field of advertising, media, and communication studies suggest that narrative messaging yields more effective outcomes than analytic and informative messages [ 66 , 67 , 75 ].…”

Development of a Codebook of Online Anti-Vaccination Rhetoric to Manage COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation

“…While the literature is not uniform in its conclusions (Hinyard & Kreuter, 2007; Krause & Rucker, 2020), there is evidence to suggest that narrative and perspectival persuasion can be more effective than factual-argumentative approaches (Adebayo et al, 2020; Carrion, 2018; Chang, 2008; de Wit et al, 2008; Krakow et al, 2018; Kreuter et al, 2010; Murphy et al, 2013, 2015; Taylor & Thompson, 1982). Research shows that audience absorption into a narrative reduces audiences’ capacity to form counterarguments against messages contained in the narrative (Deighton & Romer, 1989; Green et al, 2004; Igartua & Barrios, 2012) and tends to strengthen the persuasiveness of weak arguments and appeals (Escalas 2007).…”

“…Work in the field of public health messaging has demonstrated that messaging which focuses on narrative and rhetoric (form) tends to yield better persuasive outcomes than messaging which focuses on facts alone (i.e. content) (Adebayo et al, 2020; Bryan et al, 2019; Gilkey et al, 2020; Kreuter et al, 2010; Liu & Yang, 2020; Murphy et al, 2015). A variety of studies from the field of advertising, media, and communication studies suggest that narrative messaging yields more effective outcomes than analytic and informative messages (Bilandzic & Busselle, 2013; Escalas, 2006; Igartua & Barrios, 2012).…”

Cultural Variance in Reception and Interpretation of Social Media COVID-19 Disinformation in French-Speaking Regions

“…The balance of existing research tends to suggest that audiences are more likely to be persuaded by narrative approaches [ 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 ], appeals to values [ 74 , 75 , 76 ], and rhetorics of personal, lived experience [ 77 , 78 , 79 , 80 ]. Perhaps this is due to a dynamic that Maertens et al term a “broad spectrum” of persuasion [ 81 ].…”