COVID-19 Health Communication: Key Moderators of Message Framing

Objective. Earlier studies on message framing in the health sector have often focused on the effectiveness of framing in terms of behaviour change and decision making. Much less attention has been paid to the influence of message framing on the emotional responses of the recipients. This neglected aspect is extremely important particularly at times of crises because health care professionals wish to persuade the public to comply with their health advice without causing unnecessary anxiety. The current study examined the effect of message framing on the affect of Arabic-speaking Saudi nationals and residents of Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 lockdown. The effect of message outcome/severity and the recipients’ age/levels of depression and anxiety was also investigated. Materials & methods. A total of 348 participants of three age groups completed the Beck Depression Inventory (Beck et al., 1996) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Spielberger et al., 1983), and rated the positivity of 48 COVID-19 health messages of different framing along a 6-point Likert scale. Results. The results showed a strong effect of message framing and severity and the recipients’ age on the recipients’ emotional responses. A limited influence for message outcome was also noted. Conclusions. It is recommended to use gain-framed health messages to the public in order to avoid anxiety and maintain their positive affect. This is particularly recommended with younger adults whose affect gets negatively impacted by loss-framed messages quite easily. Loss-framed messages are recommended for in severe situations that have desirable outcomes.