Mechanisms of Climate Change Media Effects: Roles of Risk Perception, Negative Emotion, and Efficacy Beliefs.

In the context of climate change communication, this study explores the process through which exposure to media messages about a risk leads to recommended behavioral intentions. We propose a model of this process based on the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM) and the Risk Perception Attitude (RPA) framework. Our model analyzes how risk perception, negative emotion, and efficacy beliefs mediate and moderate the effects of media messages on people's intention to engage in pro-environmental behaviors. A national survey among 1,000 adults in South Korea was analyzed, and the fitting of PROCESS Models 4 and 15 yielded four main findings. First, media exposure was directly and positively related to risk perception, negative emotion, and pro-environmental behavioral intention. However, the significant relation between media exposure and behavioral intention was partly conditional upon efficacy beliefs. Second, risk perception and negative emotion were also significantly related to behavioral intention conditional upon efficacy beliefs. Third, efficacy beliefs significantly moderated the relation between risk perception and behavioral intention, but not between negative emotion and behavioral intention. Fourth, efficacy beliefs served as a moderator for the indirect effect of media exposure on behavioral intention via risk perception and negative emotion.

Differential effects of digital media platforms on climate change risk information-sharing intention: A moderated mediation model.

This study analyzes the mechanisms through which risk messages about climate change lead to people's risk information-sharing intention, and how digital media platform type serves as a context that moderates those mechanisms. Our analysis is informed by the influence of presumed influence (IPI) model, and we adapt and expand that model in three ways. First, we apply the concept of perceived media reach to the context of digital media platforms, specifically news aggregators and social networking sites. Second, we integrate the two mediators of risk perception and presumed influence. Third, we examine potential moderating roles of digital media platforms in the IPI model. An online survey was conducted among 1000 South Korean adults, and a moderated mediation model (PROCESS Macro Model 59) generated the following results. (1) Perceived media reach was positively related to both mediators-risk perception and presumed influence. (2) By way of those two mediators, perceived reach significantly led to information-sharing intention. (3) Presumed influence, but not risk perception, was significantly related to information-sharing intention. (4) Digital media platforms moderated the relation between perceived reach and risk perception: the role of content-related risk perception was more pronounced in news aggregators, while the role of context-related presumed influence was greater in social networking sites. Theoretical and practical implications for risk communication are discussed.

Life Satisfaction and Online-Gambling Communities: A Cross-National Study of Gambling Activities Among Young Finnish, American, South Korean and Spanish People.

Gambling is a potential hazard to life satisfaction, yet peer relationships online might buffer this risk. This study analyzed the ways problem gambling is associated with life satisfaction as well as the extent to which the use of online-gambling community participation and, alternatively, offline belonging affect this association. A web-based survey was conducted among people aged 15-25 in Finland (n = 1,200), the United States (n = 1,212), South Korea (n = 1,192), and Spain (n = 1,212). The main variables included life satisfaction, problem gambling measured by the South Oaks Gambling Screen, online-gambling community participation, and offline belonging. Controls included compulsive internet use, hazardous drinking, psychological distress, income, age, and gender. Linear regression models were employed with country interactions. Results showed problem gambling had a negative relationship with life satisfaction, but the association was explained by control variables. Online-gambling community participation had a positive relationship with life satisfaction, especially among pathological gamblers who had poor offline relationships. Country comparisons revealed that the direct effect of excessive gambling and the compensating effect of online-gambling communities were most prominent in Finland.

Online dating applications and risk of youth victimization: A lifestyle exposure perspective.

Based on lifestyle exposure theory (LET), this study examined online dating application (ODA) use and victimization experiences among adolescents using large cross-national samples of Finnish, American, Spanish, and South Korean young people between ages 15 and 18. According to logistic regression analyses in two substudies, ODA use was associated with more likely victimization to online harassment, online sexual harassment, and other cybercrimes and sexual victimization by adults and peers. According to mediation analyses, this relationship was mainly accounted for by the fact that ODA users engage in more risky activities in online communication and information sharing. Attention should be paid to the risks ODAs pose to vulnerable groups, such as young people, with insufficient skills to regulate their social relationships online.

Can Removing Tar Information From Cigarette Packages Reduce Smokers' Misconceptions About Low-Tar Cigarettes? An Experiment From One of the World's Lowest Tar Yield Markets, South Korea.

INTRODUCTION: Despite regulations that forbid cigarette packages from displaying messages such as "mild," "low-tar," and "light," many smokers still have misperceptions about "light" or "low-tar" cigarettes. One reason may be that tar amount displays continue to be permitted. This study examines whether removing tar delivery information from packaging reduces consumer misperceptions about "low-tar" cigarettes. METHODS: An online experiment was conducted in South Korea among 531 smokers who were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: with and without tar information on cigarette packages. Participants evaluated which type of cigarette was mildest, least harmful, easiest for nonsmokers to start smoking, and easiest for smokers to quit. RESULTS: Ten out of 12 chi-square tests showed that people judged the lowest reported tar delivery cigarette to be the mildest (p < .01), least harmful (p < .05), easiest to start (p < .05), and easiest to quit (p < .05)-less so in the "no-tar" condition than the "tar" condition. A higher level of misbeliefs about supposed low-tar cigarettes were found in the "tar" condition compared to the "no-tar" condition for all three brands (t = 5.85, 4.07, 3.82, respectively, p < .001). Regression analyses showed that the "no-tar" condition negatively predicted the level of misbeliefs after controlling for demographic and smoking-related variables (B [SE] = -.72 (.12), -.50 (.12), -.48 (.13), respectively, p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Banning reported tar deliveries from cigarette packages is likely to reduce smokers' misconceptions about "low-tar" cigarettes. When reported tar deliveries are absent, smokers have inconsistent judgments about differently packaged cigarettes. IMPLICATIONS: When cigarette packages depict lower reported tar number deliveries, participants erroneously perceive them to be less harmful than packages displaying higher tar numbers. These misperceptions of harm may prompt smokers who might otherwise attempt to quit smoking to instead consume cigarettes with lower tar deliveries due to the mistaken belief that they will reduce their risk.

The Association Between Social Media Use and Hazardous Alcohol Use Among Youths: A Four-Country Study.

AIMS: To examine the continuing role of daily popular social media use in youth hazardous alcohol consumption in four countries across continents. METHODS: A web-based survey was given to youths aged 15-25 in the USA (n = 1212), South Korea (n = 1192), Finland (n = 1200) and Spain (n = 1212). Hazardous alcohol use (alcohol use disorders identification test-C) was the dependent variable. Main independent variables measured daily use of different social media services. Controls included compulsive Internet use, offline belonging, psychological distress, impulsivity, risk-taking, age and gender. Linear regression models and mediation analyses with bootstrapping were done for each country. RESULTS: Daily use of Facebook and Instagram was associated with higher hazardous alcohol use among youths in Finland, South Korea and Spain. Daily instant messaging was related to higher hazardous alcohol use among South Korean and Finnish youths. Daily YouTube use was associated with higher hazardous alcohol use among youths in South Korea, but lower hazardous alcohol use among youths in the USA and Finland. Daily Twitter use was related to lower hazardous drinking among youths in Finland but higher hazardous drinking among youths in Spain. The mediation analyses revealed that uploading pictures to social media is a possible facilitator of social media-related hazardous alcohol use among youths in the USA and Spain. CONCLUSION: Certain social media platforms might inspire and/or attract hazardously drinking youths, contributing to the growing opportunities for social media interventions.

Communicating Uncertainties during the COVID-19 Outbreak.

With specific references to South Korea's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, this commentary discusses insights and problems related to the issue of how to communicate uncertainties about health risks to affected publics. First, we discuss examples of uncertainties relating to deficiencies of knowledge and divergent views among experts. Next, we summarize key findings on effective communication about uncertainty, and we suggest possible future directions for research in this area. Last, we suggest further development of theories that could explain how people process uncertainty in communication and how uncertainty leads to specific cognitive, emotional, and behavioral reactions.

Differential Effects of Content-Oriented Versus User-Oriented Social Media on Risk Perceptions and Behavioral Intentions.

Social media have become increasingly important in risk and crisis situations. However, little is known about which types of social media have greater influence on risk perceptions and behaviors. This study pursues two goals related to this question. The first is to explicate the cognitive mechanism underlying the process through which exposure to risk information on social media shapes people's behavioral intentions. The second is to determine whether exposures to risk information on two different types of social media-content-oriented social media focusing on shared interests versus user-oriented social media focusing on social relationships-have different effects on people's risk perceptions and behavioral intentions. Analyzing survey data from 688 adults from the general population of South Korea in the context of carcinogenic hazards, we found that self-reported content-oriented social media exposure (to risk information) was significantly related to both personal-level and societal-level risk perceptions. In addition, content-oriented social media exposure was associated with behavioral intentions indirectly through risk perceptions. However, user-oriented social media exposure had no impact on risk perceptions and behavioral intentions, either directly or indirectly through risk perceptions.

Electronic Cigarette Themes on Twitter: Dissemination Patterns and Relations with Online News and Search Engine Queries in South Korea.

This study examines multiple aspects of e-cigarette mentions on different online media channels during the announcement and implementation of a cigarette tax increase policy in South Korea. It consists of three parts. First, a Naive Bayes classifier was used to sort 59,147 tweets about e-cigarettes into five pre-designated themes - promotion, health, policy, product evaluation, and price - and to determine their relative prevalence. Second, social network analysis was used to identify the themes' dissemination patterns. Third, the themes were examined for their associations with e-cigarette mentions in two other media channels - online news articles (n = 580) and search engine queries (64 weeks of Google Trends data). Results show that the most prevalent tweet theme was product evaluation, and the theme with the largest increase during the data collection period was promotion. Promotion-themed tweets were the least connected with tweets about the other five themes, while health-themed tweets were the most connected. Finally, product evaluation-themed tweets exhibited the strongest correlation with search engine query count and had the largest explanatory power.

Mediating and Moderating Roles of Trust in Government in Effective Risk Rumor Management: A Test Case of Radiation-Contaminated Seafood in South Korea.

This study has two aims: to identify effective strategies for managing false rumors about risks and to investigate the roles that basic and situational trust in government play in that process. Online experiment data were collected nationwide from 915 adults in South Korea. They were exposed to a false rumor about radiation-contaminated seafood and were randomly assigned to one of three rumor response conditions (refutation, denial, attack the attacker). One-way ANOVA indicated that the refutation response yielded the highest level of situational trust in government response (TGR). Results of moderated mediation models using the PROCESS Macro indicated the following. (1) The refutation response had a positive effect on TGR, and the attack response had a negative effect. (2) There were significant interaction effects between the attack response and preexisting basic trust in government (BTG) in that the attack response had a negative effect on TGR only when BTG was low. (3) TGR significantly mediated the relationship between each of the three rumor responses and two dependent variables (intentions for rumor dissemination and for unwarranted actions), but in dramatically different ways across the responses. This study provides evidence for the superior effectiveness of the refutation rumor response and identifies specific roles of trust in government in the risk rumor management process.

Effective strategies for responding to rumors about risks: The case of radiation-contaminated food in South Korea.

This experimental study explores how governments should respond to rumors about national-level risk issues. Informed by research in rumor psychology and risk/crisis communication, it investigates whether type of rumor and rumor response strategy have main and interaction effects on reducing rumor beliefs and intention to disseminate rumor. The two featured rumor types are the bogie rumor, which highlights feared outcomes, and the wedge rumor, which aims to reinforce differences between rival groups. Derived from Situational Crisis Communication Theory, the three response strategies examined are refuting the rumor, denying it, and attacking its source. Data were drawn from part of a large-scale online experiment, and the sample of the analysis was 942 South Korean adults. The experiment had a between-subjects design of 2 rumor type (wedge vs. bogie) x 3 government response strategies (refutation, denial, attack the attacker). Results show that all three rumor response strategies significantly reduced rumor beliefs, but only the refutation strategy significantly reduced intention to disseminate the rumor. Rumor type (bogie) and response strategies (refutation) had main, but not interaction, effects on reduction of intention to disseminate the rumor.

Rationale, design, and characteristics of the multimedia family planning campaign for a small, happy, and prosperous family in Ethiopia (SHaPE).

BACKGROUND: Ethiopia, the second most populous country in Africa, has a total fertility rate of 4.6, a decrease from 5.5 in 2000. However, only 35.3% of women in the reproductive age group use modern family planning (FP) methods, and the 22.3% of them who have an unmet need for family planning is among the highest rates in sub-Saharan African countries. The Small, Happy, and Prosperous family in Ethiopia (SHaPE) is one of the country's first comprehensive multimedia family planning campaigns. Its purpose is to increase FP-related knowledge, attitude, and practice of Ethiopians, particularly women of reproductive age. METHODS/DESIGN: The SHaPE campaign has multiple components: (1) a nationwide representative survey, which serves as formative research to identify region-specific and culture-appropriate media, messages, and barriers and determinants of family planning; (2) a multimedia communication campaign intervention, including radio dramas and other interpersonal, community-level, and mass media channels; and (3) campaign evaluation, including pre-, process-, and post-evaluation research using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The main target population for SHaPE is reproductive age women and men in three regions: Amhara, Oromia, and Somali. These regions take up about 66.6% of the entire country and have distinct ethnicities, cultures, and languages. DISCUSSION: SHaPE contributes to existing family planning research and intervention because it is theory- and evidence-based, and it employs integrated marketing communications and entertainment-education approaches with key messages that are tailored to audiences within unique cultures. But even within a country, a nationwide campaign with uniform messages is neither possible nor desirable due to different cultures, norms, and languages across regions. Last, media campaigns in developing and underdeveloped countries require constant monitoring of political situations.

How the Media Effects Schema and the Persuasion Ethics Schema Affect Audience Responses to Antismoking Campaign Messages.

This study examines the roles that the media effects and persuasion ethics schemas play in people's responses to an antismoking ad in South Korea. An online experiment was conducted with 347 adults. The media effects schema was manipulated with news stories on an antismoking campaign's effectiveness, while the persuasion ethics schema was measured and median-split. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) tests were performed for issue attitudes (Iatt), attitude toward the ad (Aad), and behavioral intention (BI). Results show significant main effects of the media effects schema on the three dependent variables. People in the weak media effects condition had significantly lower Iatt, Aad, and BI than those in either the strong media effects condition or the control condition. This pattern was more pronounced among smokers. While there was no significant main effect of the persuasion ethics schema on any of the dependent variables, a significant interaction effect for persuasion ethics schema and smoking status was found on behavioral intention (BI). Nonsmokers' BI was significantly higher than smokers' in the low-persuasion ethics schema condition, but it was not significant in the high-persuasion ethics schema condition.

How Fear-Arousing News Messages Affect Risk Perceptions and Intention to Talk About Risk.

Building on the theoretical arguments of the impersonal-impact and differential-impact hypotheses, this study has a twofold purpose: first, to demonstrate how fear-arousing media messages about risk are associated with personal-level risk perception, as well as, and perhaps more so than, societal-level risk perception; and second, to examine how the resulting risk perceptions can mediate intention to talk about the risk with family and friends. A news message evaluation study was conducted among the general public in South Korea concerning two major risks, carcinogens and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Two sets of structural equation models reveal three main findings: (a) Fear-arousing news messages are positively related to personal-level risk perception, as well as to societal-level risk perception; (b) fear-arousing news messages result in intention to talk about the risk directly and indirectly through risk perception; and

Project FIT: A School, Community and Social Marketing Intervention Improves Healthy Eating Among Low-Income Elementary School Children.

Project FIT was a two-year multi-component nutrition and physical activity intervention delivered in ethnically-diverse low-income elementary schools in Grand Rapids, MI. This paper reports effects on children's nutrition outcomes and process evaluation of the school component. A quasi-experimental design was utilized. 3rd, 4th and 5th-grade students (Yr 1 baseline: N = 410; Yr 2 baseline: N = 405; age range: 7.5-12.6 years) were measured in the fall and spring over the two-year intervention. Ordinal logistic, mixed effect models and generalized estimating equations were fitted, and the robust standard errors were utilized. Primary outcomes favoring the intervention students were found regarding consumption of fruits, vegetables and whole grain bread during year 2. Process evaluation revealed that implementation of most intervention components increased during year 2. Project FIT resulted in small but beneficial effects on consumption of fruits, vegetables, and whole grain bread in ethnically diverse low-income elementary school children.

Reduced harm or another gateway to smoking? source, message, and information characteristics of E-cigarette videos on YouTube.

E-cigarettes are widely promoted on the Internet, but little is known about what kinds of information about them are available online. This study examines message, source, and health information characteristics of e-cigarette videos on the popular online video-sharing platform YouTube. A content analysis of 365 e-cigarette videos indicates that 85% of the videos were sponsored by marketers. These videos highlight e-cigarettes' economic and social benefits, featuring a low level of fear appeal and negative message valence and a high level of marketing information about e-cigarette products. They also convey certain health claims that have been proscribed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the prevalence of which warrants ongoing monitoring and regulatory guidelines for online e-cigarette marketing.

Assessment of a healthy corner store program (FIT Store) in low-income, urban, and ethnically diverse neighborhoods in Michigan.

This study evaluated a community-based and social marketing healthy corner store program (FIT store) to improve the affordability and availability of healthy foods in low-income, urban, and ethnically diverse neighborhoods in Michigan. The Nutrition Environment Measures Survey in Stores data were analyzed for the FIT (N = 4) stores. Two cross-sectional surveys were conducted among the FIT store customers before (N = 401) and after (N = 318) the intervention. Three FIT stores improved their total Nutrition Environment Measures Survey in Stores availability score from before to after the intervention. A significantly higher level of FIT awareness and monthly bean and nut consumption was reported in the postintervention.

Emerging issues and future directions of the field of health communication.

The interdisciplinary intersections between communication science and health-related fields are pervasive, with numerous differences in regard to epistemology, career planning, funding perspectives, educational goals, and cultural orientations. This article identifies and elaborates on these challenges with illustrative examples. Furthermore, concrete suggestions for future scholarship are recommended to facilitate compatible, coherent, and interdisciplinary health communication inquiry. The authors hope that this article helps current and future generations of health communication scholars to make more informed decisions when facing some of the challenges discussed in this article so that they will be able to seize the interdisciplinary and international potential of this unique and important field of study.

Roles of guilt and culture in normative influence: testing moderated mediation in the anti-secondhand smoking context.

This study simultaneously explored direct, indirect, and joint effects of types of norm messages, guilt, and culture on smokers' behavioral intentions in the anti-secondhand smoking context. An online study among 310 smoking students in an individualistic (United States) and a collectivistic (Korea) country indicated that (1) norm messages had no conditional indirect effects on behavioral intention, (2) guilt arousal had a strong and direct impact on behavioral intention, and (3) guilt arousal and its impact on behavioral intention were stronger among Korean smokers than among US smokers.

Social media for message testing: a multilevel approach to linking favorable viewer responses with message, producer, and viewer influence on YouTube.

To explore the feasibility of social media for message testing, this study connects favorable viewer responses to antismoking videos on YouTube with the videos' message characteristics (message sensation value [MSV] and appeals), producer types, and viewer influences (viewer rating and number of viewers). Through multilevel modeling, a content analysis of 7,561 viewer comments on antismoking videos is linked with a content analysis of 87 antismoking videos. Based on a cognitive response approach, viewer comments are classified and coded as message-oriented thought, video feature-relevant thought, and audience-generated thought. The three mixed logit models indicate that videos with a greater number of viewers consistently increased the odds of favorable viewer responses, while those presenting humor appeals decreased the odds of favorable message-oriented and audience-generated thoughts. Some significant interaction effects show that videos produced by laypeople may hinder favorable viewer responses, while a greater number of viewer comments can work jointly with videos presenting threat appeals to predict favorable viewer responses. Also, for a more accurate understanding of audience responses to the messages, nuance cues should be considered together with message features and viewer influences.