IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cpr/ceprdp/17506.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Backlash Against Expert Recommendations: Reactions to COVID-19 Advice in Latin America

Author

Listed:
  • Albornoz-Crespo, Facundo
  • Bottan, Nicolas
  • Cruces, Guillermo
  • Hoffmann, Bridget
  • Lombardi, María

Abstract

Health recommendations are key to tackling public health crises. We study the effect of attributing health recommendations to experts on agreement using a series of large survey experiments in twelve Latin American countries. We document a robust backlash against experts: agreement with recommendations is lower when these are phrased as originating from an expert. This backlash is only present for the recommendations that are specific to the pandemic and does not depend on the type of expert (academic, public or private sector). For individuals initially reporting low levels of trust in experts, agreement with all recommendations is lower when they are attributed to experts as compared to individuals who trust experts, indicating that anti-intellectualism plays a role in expert backlash but cannot fully explain the differential pattern of expert backlash that we observe across recommendations. We find suggestive evidence that individual traits and perceptions of social pressure could contribute to these backlash effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Albornoz-Crespo, Facundo & Bottan, Nicolas & Cruces, Guillermo & Hoffmann, Bridget & Lombardi, María, 2022. "Backlash Against Expert Recommendations: Reactions to COVID-19 Advice in Latin America," CEPR Discussion Papers 17506, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:17506
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://cepr.org/publications/DP17506
    Download Restriction: CEPR Discussion Papers are free to download for our researchers, subscribers and members. If you fall into one of these categories but have trouble downloading our papers, please contact us at subscribers@cepr.org
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Durante, Ruben & Guiso, Luigi & Gulino, Giorgio, 2021. "Asocial capital: Civic culture and social distancing during COVID-19," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    2. Bargain, Olivier & Aminjonov, Ulugbek, 2020. "Trust and compliance to public health policies in times of COVID-19," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    3. Thomas Hale & Noam Angrist & Rafael Goldszmidt & Beatriz Kira & Anna Petherick & Toby Phillips & Samuel Webster & Emily Cameron-Blake & Laura Hallas & Saptarshi Majumdar & Helen Tatlow, 2021. "A global panel database of pandemic policies (Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker)," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 5(4), pages 529-538, April.
    4. Eichengreen, Barry & Aksoy, Cevat Giray & Saka, Orkun, 2021. "Revenge of the experts: Will COVID-19 renew or diminish public trust in science?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    5. Cristina Bicchieri & Enrique Fatas & Abraham Aldama & Andrés Casas & Ishwari Deshpande & Mariagiulia Lauro & Cristina Parilli & Max Spohn & Paula Pereira & Ruiling Wen, 2021. "In science we (should) trust: Expectations and compliance across nine countries during the COVID-19 pandemic," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(6), pages 1-17, June.
    6. Sadish, D & Adhvaryu, Achyuta & Nyshadham, Anant, 2021. "(Mis)information and anxiety: Evidence from a randomized Covid-19 information campaign," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    7. Nicolás Ajzenman & Tiago Cavalcanti & Daniel Da Mata, 2023. "More than Words: Leaders' Speech and Risky Behavior during a Pandemic," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 15(3), pages 351-371, August.
    8. Jay J. Van Bavel & Katherine Baicker & Paulo S. Boggio & Valerio Capraro & Aleksandra Cichocka & Mina Cikara & Molly J. Crockett & Alia J. Crum & Karen M. Douglas & James N. Druckman & John Drury & Oe, 2020. "Using social and behavioural science to support COVID-19 pandemic response," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 4(5), pages 460-471, May.
    9. Marcella Alsan & Sarah Eichmeyer, 2024. "Experimental Evidence on the Effectiveness of Nonexperts for Improving Vaccine Demand," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 16(1), pages 394-414, February.
    10. Lisa Ho & Emily Breza & Abhijit Banerjee & Arun G. Chandrasekhar & Fatima C. Stanford & Renato Fior & Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham & Kelly Holland & Emily Hoppe & Louis- Maël Jean & Lucy Ogbu-Nwobodo & Benj, 2023. "The Impact of Large-Scale Social Media Advertising Campaigns on COVID-19 Vaccination: Evidence from Two Randomized Controlled Trials," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 113, pages 653-658, May.
    11. Cherry, Todd L. & James, Alexander G. & Murphy, James, 2021. "The impact of public health messaging and personal experience on the acceptance of mask wearing during the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 415-430.
    12. Shachat, Jason & Walker, Matthew J. & Wei, Lijia, 2021. "How the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic impacted pro-social behaviour and individual preferences: Experimental evidence from China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 480-494.
    13. Martial Foucault & Yann Algan & Daniel Cohen & Eva Davoine & Stefanie Stantcheva, 2021. "Trust in scientists in times of pandemic: Panel evidence from 12 countries," Post-Print hal-03423522, HAL.
    14. Nicolas Bottan & Bridget Hoffmann & Diego Vera-Cossio, 2020. "The unequal impact of the coronavirus pandemic: Evidence from seventeen developing countries," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(10), pages 1-10, October.
    15. Bird, Matthew D. & Arispe, Samuel & Muñoz, Paula & Freier, Luisa Feline, 2023. "Trust, social protection, and compliance: Moral hazard in Latin America during the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 279-295.
    16. Bahety, Girija & Bauhoff, Sebastian & Patel, Dev & Potter, James, 2021. "Texts don’t nudge: An adaptive trial to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    17. Eric Merkley & Peter John Loewen, 2021. "Anti-intellectualism and the mass public’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 5(6), pages 706-715, June.
    18. Mimi E. Lam, 2021. "United by the global COVID-19 pandemic: divided by our values and viral identities," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-6, December.
    19. Adam Brzezinski & Valentin Kecht & David Dijcke & Austin L. Wright, 2021. "Science skepticism reduced compliance with COVID-19 shelter-in-place policies in the United States," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 5(11), pages 1519-1527, November.
    20. Onur Altındağ & Jane Greve & Erdal Tekin, 2024. "Public Health Policy at Scale: Impact of a Government-Sponsored Information Campaign on Infant Mortality in Denmark," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 106(3), pages 882-893, May.
    21. Young, Alwyn, 2019. "Channeling Fisher: randomization tests and the statistical insignificance of seemingly significant experimental results," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 101401, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    22. Painter, Marcus & Qiu, Tian, 2021. "Political beliefs affect compliance with government mandates," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 185(C), pages 688-701.
    23. Alwyn Young, 2019. "Channeling Fisher: Randomization Tests and the Statistical Insignificance of Seemingly Significant Experimental Results," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(2), pages 557-598.
    24. Solís Arce, Julio S. & Warren, Shana S. & Meriggi, Niccolò F. & Scacco, Alexandra & McMurry, Nina & Voors, Maarten & Syunyaev, Georgiy & Malik, Amyn Abdul & Aboutajdine, Samya & Adeojo, Opeyemi & Anig, 2021. "COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and hesitancy in low- and middle-income countries," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 27, pages 1-1.
    25. Chen, Chinchih & Frey, Carl Benedikt & Presidente, Giorgio, 2021. "Culture and contagion: Individualism and compliance with COVID-19 policy," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 191-200.
    26. Gutierrez, Emilio & Rubli, Adrian & Tavares, Tiago, 2022. "Information and behavioral responses during a pandemic: Evidence from delays in Covid-19 death reports," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bird, Matthew D. & Arispe, Samuel & Muñoz, Paula & Freier, Luisa Feline, 2023. "Trust, social protection, and compliance: Moral hazard in Latin America during the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 279-295.
    2. Grimalda, Gianluca & Murtin, Fabrice & Pipke, David & Putterman, Louis & Sutter, Matthias, 2023. "The politicized pandemic: Ideological polarization and the behavioral response to COVID-19," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    3. Antoci, Angelo & Sabatini, Fabio & Sacco, Pier Luigi & Sodini, Mauro, 2022. "Experts vs. policymakers in the COVID-19 policy response," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 201(C), pages 22-39.
    4. Islam, Asad & Kusnadi, Gita & Rezki, Jahen & Sim, Armand & van Empel, Giovanni & Vlassopoulos, Michael & Zenou, Yves, 2024. "Addressing vaccine hesitancy using local ambassadors: A randomized controlled trial in Indonesia," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    5. Bartscher, Alina Kristin & Seitz, Sebastian & Siegloch, Sebastian & Slotwinski, Michaela & Wehrhöfer, Nils, 2021. "Social capital and the spread of covid-19: Insights from european countries," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    6. Deiana, Claudio & Geraci, Andrea & Mazzarella, Gianluca & Sabatini, Fabio, 2022. "Can relief measures nudge compliance in a public health crisis? Evidence from a kinked fiscal policy rule," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 407-428.
    7. Umer, Hamza, 2022. "Does pro-sociality or trust better predict staying home behavior during the Covid-19?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    8. Bahety, Girija & Bauhoff, Sebastian & Patel, Dev & Potter, James, 2021. "Texts don’t nudge: An adaptive trial to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    9. Étienne Dagorn & Martina Dattilo & Matthieu Pourieux, 2022. "Preferences matter! Political Responses to the COVID-19 and Population’s Preferences," Economics Working Paper Archive (University of Rennes & University of Caen) 2022-01, Center for Research in Economics and Management (CREM), University of Rennes, University of Caen and CNRS.
    10. Shuguang Jiang & Qian Wei & Luyao Zhang, 2022. "Individualism Versus Collectivism and the Early-Stage Transmission of COVID-19," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 164(2), pages 791-821, November.
    11. Henrike Sternberg & Janina Isabel Steinert & Tim Büthe, 2024. "Compliance in the public versus the private realm: Economic preferences, institutional trust and COVID‐19 health behaviors," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(5), pages 1055-1119, May.
    12. Yuen, Vera W.H., 2023. "The efficacy of health experts’ communication in inducing support for COVID-19 measures and effect on trustworthiness: A survey in Hong Kong," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 317(C).
    13. Dagorn, Etienne & Dattilo, Martina & Pourieux, Matthieu, 2024. "The role of populations’ behavioral traits in policy-making during a global crisis: Worldwide evidence," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    14. Phalippou, Ludovic & Wu, Betty, 2023. "The association between the proportion of Brexiters and COVID-19 death rates in England," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 323(C).
    15. Pronkina, Elizaveta & Berniell, Inés & Fawaz, Yarine & Laferrère, Anne & Mira, Pedro, 2023. "The COVID-19 curtain: Can past communist regimes explain the vaccination divide in Europe?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 321(C).
    16. Hamza Umer, 2023. "Stability of pro-sociality and trust amid the Covid-19: panel data from the Netherlands," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 50(1), pages 255-287, February.
    17. Daryna Grechyna, 2024. "Elections and policies: Evidence from the Covid pandemic," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 77(3), pages 812-831, August.
    18. repec:hal:wpaper:hal-03974756 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Gabriele Beccari & Matilde Giaccherini & Joanna Kopinska & Gabriele Rovigatti, 2023. "Refueling a Quiet Fire: Old Truthers and New Discontent in the Wake of Covid-19," CESifo Working Paper Series 10803, CESifo.
    20. Angerer, Silvia & Glätzle-Rützler, Daniela & Lergetporer, Philipp & Rittmannsberger, Thomas, 2023. "How does the vaccine approval procedure affect COVID-19 vaccination intentions?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    21. Federico N Daverio-Occhini & María Montoya-Aguirre & Máximo Ponce de León & L Guillermo Woo-Mora, 2024. "Moral Force: Leaders' Actions and Public Health Compliance in Crisis," PSE Working Papers halshs-04721932, HAL.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Experts; Trust; Public health; Covid-19;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty
    • H4 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods

    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:cpr:ceprdp:17506. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cepr.org .

    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.