To vaccinate or not to vaccinate!? Predictors of willingness to receive Covid-19 vaccination in Europe, the U.S., and China

Researcher teams around the globe including the “Project Lightspeed” are intensively working on vaccines to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the availability of effective vaccines does not guarantee the vaccination willingness among the population. In spring 2021, we investigated the vaccination willingness and its potential predictors in representative online samples in nine countries (China, France, Germany, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, U.K., U.S.). Of the 9,264 participants, 79.9% revealed Covid-19 vaccination willingness. The highest willingness was in the U.K., followed by Spain and China, the lowest in Russia. In most countries, the perception of governmental Covid-19 measures as useful and the use of television reports as Covid-19 information source positively predicted the willingness. Further factors such as demographic variables, mental and physical health status, evaluation of governmental communication, social media use, and general adherence to Covid-19 measures showed a country-specific predictive pattern. Recommendations how to increase the vaccination willingness are provided.

Digital contact-tracing in France: uptake by COVID-19 risk factor and by exposure risk

Background Few studies have investigated the influence of COVID-19 conspiracy theories on digital contact-tracing adoption and the differentiated uptake of digital contact-tracing by COVID-19 risk factor and by exposure risk. Methods Using a cross-sectional survey conducted in France in November 2020 (N = 1042), we investigate the factors associated with the use of the French ‘TousAntiCovid’ contact-tracing application. Our independent variables of interest include COVID-19 and ‘TousAntiCovid’ perceptions, trust in the government, time and risk preferences and the level of adherence to COVID-19 conspiracy theories. We conduct regression analyses by COVID-19 risk factor and exposure groups. Results Among the full sample, a negative association is found between the propensity to believe in COVID-19 conspiracy theories and the use of ‘TousAntiCovid’. French respondents at risk of severe COVID-19 form are more likely to use ‘TousAntiCovid’. No difference in uptake is found by exposure group. Group analyses indicate that the factors associated with the uptake of digital contact-tracing differ by COVID-19 risk factor and exposure risk. Conclusion Governmental communication to fight COVID-19 misinformation and to stress out the utility and data safety of ‘TousAntiCovid’ should be reinforced. Targeted communication campaigns should be conducted among low adoption groups and key groups in COVID-19 transmission.

No government mouthpieces: Changes in the framing of the “migration crisis” in German news and infotainment media

This study investigates the German media’s framing of the 2015–2016 “migration crisis” and their support and criticism of the initial open-door policy. A standardized content analysis examines changes in media frames following the key event of assaults on New Year’s Eve (NYE) 2015. It is analyzed how changes in coverage differed between public broadcasting news and infotainment formats (talk and satirical shows) and how they were related to governmental communication. The findings contradict ideas of a state-conforming and uniform coverage of the “migration crisis.” Media coverage did not parallel the governmental switch from support for the open-door policy to ambivalence after the NYE incidents but challenged governmental communication with critical counter frames. Regarding support for the open-door policy, the news media showed some parallels to the government’s frames; however, the infotainment media deviated in their frame agenda from the news media and thus contributed to diversity in media discourse.

In/Commensurability in Chimerica: An Analysis of China’s Rhetorical Strategies Diplomatic Conflicts with the U.S.

Niall Ferguson (2006), the British economist and author of The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World, coined the neologism “Chimerica” to identify the increasingly important and interdependent bilateral relationship between U.S. and China since Beijing emerged as the U.S.’s largest creditor and supplier of goods outside of North America. China’s contemporary cultural orientation draws primarily from Confucianism, a tradition that insists on order and cohesion. This predisposition contrasts sharply with the Aristotelian intellectual tradition of the West, and creates a constant source of friction between the two cultures. As China gains an equal economic footing with the West, and with the U.S. in particular, the sources of incommensurability between these cultures need to be understood more thoroughly to alleviate some of the conflict that would otherwise plague individual, organizational, and governmental communication spanning the two sides. This tension is evident in the editorial pages of the most important news outlets in China and the West. Focusing on selected editorials and drawing on Incommensurability Theory as an analytical framework, this research identifies some of the key cultural defaults, or commonplaces, that the Chinese government uses to guide its rhetorical position in diplomatic conflicts and the cultural roots of these default positions.

In/Commensurability in Chimerica: An Analysis of China’s Rhetorical Strategies Diplomatic Conflicts with the U.S.

Niall Ferguson (2006), the British economist and author of The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World, coined the neologism “Chimerica” to identify the increasingly important and interdependent bilateral relationship between U.S. and China since Beijing emerged as the U.S.’s largest creditor and supplier of goods outside of North America. China’s contemporary cultural orientation draws primarily from Confucianism, a tradition that insists on order and cohesion. This predisposition contrasts sharply with the Aristotelian intellectual tradition of the West, and creates a constant source of friction between the two cultures. As China gains an equal economic footing with the West, and with the U.S. in particular, the sources of incommensurability between these cultures need to be understood more thoroughly to alleviate some of the conflict that would otherwise plague individual, organizational, and governmental communication spanning the two sides. This tension is evident in the editorial pages of the most important news outlets in China and the West. Focusing on selected editorials and drawing on Incommensurability Theory as an analytical framework, this research identifies some of the key cultural defaults, or commonplaces, that the Chinese government uses to guide its rhetorical position in diplomatic conflicts and the cultural roots of these default positions.

Governmental Communication and Brand Advertising During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has prompt­ed governments and brands around the world to produce short audiovisual spaces with different objectives. This research examines the governmental and business communication within the Ibero-American sphere. Audiovisual products belonging to YouTube official channels of govern­mental institutions were observed. These productions have been categorized ac­cording to their intention (informative, appealing, emotional or poetic). Results show a predominance of refer­ential videos in government commu­nication, followed by the appealing intention and somewhat less by the emotional and poetic intentions. The intention of the business spots can also be categorized into the follow­ing: informing about what companies do during the COVID-19 crisis, their support of the StayHome campaign, messages of encouragement, sales of products or brand image, gratitude campaigns towards professionals and citizens, and focusing on the return af­ter the pandemic. It is concluded that governments and businesses are marking arduous me­dia efforts during the health emergen­cy, with special differences in terms of quality and quantity. Finally, recom­mendations are made in this regard. Keywords: COVID-19, coronavirus, crisis communication, governmental communication, brand advertising.

Behavioral measures to fight COVID-19: An 8-country study of perceived usefulness, adherence and their predictors

Behavioral measures, such as the wearing of facemasks and maintaining of distance to other people, have been central in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and will continue to be important in curbing its spread. We therefore investigated their perceived usefulness, adherence and their predictors in representative online samples in eight countries (France, Germany, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, U.K., U.S.). Of the 7,658 participants, 77.4% rated governmental measures (highest: Germany, lowest: France) as useful and 91.7% reported adherence to them. Adherence was lowest in Russia and Poland, where people felt particularly left alone and not well supported, and in the U.S. and Sweden, where governments showed ambivalent attitudes towards the measures. The highest adherence was reported in countries with very high mortality (U.K., Spain, France) or very positively perceived government communication (Germany). Female gender, higher age, belonging to a risk group, being affected physically and mentally, perception of governmental communication as guided by the interests of people, feeling of being well informed and the level of positive mental health positively predicted both outcomes, while being affected economically negatively predicted both outcomes. Country-specific results are considered in the light of the protection motivation theory and the theory of planned behavior together with potential ways to improve active participation of the population. Overall, we recommend the governments and authorities to stress that each individual can contribute to the control of the COVID-19 situation by adherence to the measures in the public communication. Moreover, they should emphasize the risk of unconscious infection of older individuals by younger people, as well as the importance of physical activity for the protection of mental and physical health especially during the pandemic.

The impacts of knowledge, risk perception, emotion and information on citizens’ protective behaviors during the outbreak of COVID-19: a cross-sectional study in China

Background Individual protective behaviors play an important role in the control of the spread of infectious diseases. This study aimed to investigate the adoption of protective behaviors by Chinese citizens amid the COVID-19 outbreak and its associated factors. Methods An online cross-sectional survey was conducted from 22 January to 14 February 2020 through Wenjuanxing platform, measuring their knowledge, risk perception, negative emotion, response to official communication, and protective behaviors in relation to COVID-19. A total of 3008 people completed the questionnaire, of which 2845 were valid questionnaires. Results On average, 71% of respondents embraced protective behaviors. Those who made no error in the knowledge test (AOR = 1.77, p < 0.001) perceived the high severity of the epidemic (AOR = 1.90, p < 0.001), had high negative emotion (AOR = 1.36, p = 0.005), reported good health (AOR = 1.94, p < 0.001), paid high attention to the governmental media (AOR = 4.16, p < 0.001) and trusted the governmental media (AOR = 1.97, p < 0.001) were more likely to embrace protective behaviors after adjustments for variations in potential confounding factors. Women and older people were also more likely to embrace protective behaviors. No regional or educational differences were found in the adoption of protective behaviors. Conclusion The majority of Chinese citizens embraced protective behaviors. Higher levels of protective behaviors are associated with higher knowledge, perceived severity, negative emotion, and attention to and trust in the official governmental media. Official governmental communication is the largest single predictor of protective behaviors.

Values and Credibility in Science Communication

Understanding science requires appreciating the values it presupposes and its social context. Both the values that scientists hold and their social context can affect scientific communication. Philosophers of science have recently begun studying scientific communication, especially as it relates to public policy. Some have proposed “guiding principles for communicating scientific findings” to promote trust and objectivity. This paper contributes to this line of research in a novel way using behavioural experimentation. We report results from three experiments testing judgments about the trustworthiness, competence and objectivity of scientists. More specifically, we tested whether such judgments are affected by three factors: consulting or not consulting nonscientists, conducting research under a restrictive or non-restrictive governmental communication policy, and the source of a lab’s funding. We found that each of these factors affects ordinary judgments of trustworthiness, competence and objectivity. These findings support several recommendations that could help improve scientific communication and communication policies.