Abstract
To understand public perceptions of pandemic messaging, we surveyed U.S. adults for 36 consecutive weeks starting on March 12, 2020. Using a repeated cross-section design, we tracked intentions to engage in protective behaviors, demographics, and four message perceptions: exhaustion, overload, repetition, and exaggeration. Exhaustion increased over time and became negatively related to intentions (rising negativity model). Exaggeration was stable across the 36 weeks, yet had the strongest negative relationship with intentions and that relationship increased over time (fixed model with increasing negative relationship). Overload and repetition were positively related to intentions, but the relationships faded over time (fading positivity model).
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
