Article Title

Unintended Effects of Risk Communication: Impacts of Message Fatigue, Risk Tolerance, and Trust in Public Health Information on Psychological Reactance

Authors

Youngji Seo, University of GeorgiaFollow
Silvia Ravazzani, Università IULMFollow
Hyoyeun Jun, Salve Regina UniversityFollow
Yan Jin, University of GeorgiaFollow
Alfonsa Butera, IULM UniversityFollow
Alessandra Mazzei, IULM UniversityFollow
Bryan H. Reber, University of GeorgiaFollow

Abstract

How individuals experience unintended effects of risk messages is an understudied area. Focusing on three types of unintended effects (i.e., message fatigue, risk tolerance, and psychological reactance) associated with health risk communication, we conducted an online survey among Italian adults (N = 507) to investigate how perceived message fatigue and risk tolerance might induce psychological reactance and whether trust in public health information might mediate this relationship. Results from mediation models revealed: (a) greater message fatigue and risk tolerance increased psychological reactance; (b) greater message fatigue and risk tolerance led to distrust in government-shared health information; (c) trust in public health information mediated the effects of message fatigue and risk tolerance on psychological reactance. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

DOI

10.30658/jicrcr.4.3.3

Author ORCID Identifier

Youngji Seo: 0000-0001-9692-9022

Silvia Ravazzani: 0000-0002-0935-5719

Hyoyeun Jun: 0000-0002-5283-9831

Yan Jin: 0000-0003-4228-5529

Alfonsa Butera: 0000-0002-1161-9736

Alessandra Mazzei: 0000-0001-7242-4505

Bryan H. Reber: 0000-0002-9160-1471

Recommended Citation

Seo, Y., Ravazzani, S., Jun, H., Jin, Y., Butera, A., Mazzei, A., Reber, B. H. (2021). Unintended effects of risk communication: Impacts of message fatigue, risk tolerance, and trust in public health information on psychological reactance. Journal of International Crisis and Risk Communication Research, 4(3), 517-544. https://doi.org/10.30658/jicrcr.4.3.3