{"title":"How Media Reports on COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories Impact Consensus Beliefs and Protective Action: A Randomized Controlled Online Trial.","authors":"Hannah Timna Logemann, Samuel Tomczyk","doi":"10.1177/10755470221143087","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study examines the influence of news coverage on coronavirus disease (COVID)-related conspiracy theories on consensus perceptions regarding the seriousness of COVID-19 and its impact on attitudes and behaviors. In an online experiment, 395 participants either watched a report containing conspiracy theories, scientific facts, or information about a political summit, and they subsequently completed a questionnaire. Viewing reports on conspiracy theories lead to higher assessments of consensus compared with other reports. Perceived consensus correlated positively with attitudes toward COVID, which further correlated positively with behavior. The study shows that news reports can bias assessments of consensus, which has implications for public communication.</p>","PeriodicalId":549,"journal":{"name":"European Food Research and Technology","volume":"166 1","pages":"145-171"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2000,"publicationDate":"2023-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9755041/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"European Food Research and Technology","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10755470221143087","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2022/12/14 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This study examines the influence of news coverage on coronavirus disease (COVID)-related conspiracy theories on consensus perceptions regarding the seriousness of COVID-19 and its impact on attitudes and behaviors. In an online experiment, 395 participants either watched a report containing conspiracy theories, scientific facts, or information about a political summit, and they subsequently completed a questionnaire. Viewing reports on conspiracy theories lead to higher assessments of consensus compared with other reports. Perceived consensus correlated positively with attitudes toward COVID, which further correlated positively with behavior. The study shows that news reports can bias assessments of consensus, which has implications for public communication.
期刊介绍:
The journal European Food Research and Technology publishes state-of-the-art research papers and review articles on fundamental and applied food research. The journal''s mission is the fast publication of high quality papers on front-line research, newest techniques and on developing trends in the following sections:
-chemistry and biochemistry-
technology and molecular biotechnology-
nutritional chemistry and toxicology-
analytical and sensory methodologies-
food physics.
Out of the scope of the journal are:
- contributions which are not of international interest or do not have a substantial impact on food sciences,
- submissions which comprise merely data collections, based on the use of routine analytical or bacteriological methods,
- contributions reporting biological or functional effects without profound chemical and/or physical structure characterization of the compound(s) under research.