IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cup/bjposi/v53y2023i2p698-706_21.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Using General Messages to Persuade on a Politicized Scientific Issue

Author

Listed:
  • Green, Jon
  • Druckman, James N.
  • Baum, Matthew A.
  • Lazer, David
  • Ognyanova, Katherine
  • Simonson, Matthew D.
  • Lin, Jennifer
  • Santillana, Mauricio
  • Perlis, Roy H.

Abstract

Politics and science have become increasingly intertwined. Salient scientific issues, such as climate change, evolution, and stem-cell research, become politicized, pitting partisans against one another. This creates a challenge of how to effectively communicate on such issues. Recent work emphasizes the need for tailored messages to specific groups. Here, we focus on whether generalized messages also can matter. We do so in the context of a highly polarized issue: extreme COVID-19 vaccine resistance. The results show that science-based, moral frame, and social norm messages move behavioral intentions, and do so by the same amount across the population (that is, homogeneous effects). Counter to common portrayals, the politicization of science does not preclude using broad messages that resonate with the entire population.

Suggested Citation

  • Green, Jon & Druckman, James N. & Baum, Matthew A. & Lazer, David & Ognyanova, Katherine & Simonson, Matthew D. & Lin, Jennifer & Santillana, Mauricio & Perlis, Roy H., 2023. "Using General Messages to Persuade on a Politicized Scientific Issue," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 53(2), pages 698-706, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:bjposi:v:53:y:2023:i:2:p:698-706_21
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0007123422000424/type/journal_article
    File Function: link to article abstract page
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cup:bjposi:v:53:y:2023:i:2:p:698-706_21. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Kirk Stebbing (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cambridge.org/jps .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.