To Be (Vaccinated) or Not to Be: The Effect of Media Exposure, Institutional Trust, and Incentives on Attitudes toward COVID-19 Vaccination

The COVID-19 vaccine has become a strategic vehicle for reducing the spread of the pandemic. However, the uptake of the vaccine by the public is more complicated than simply making it available. Based on social learning theory, this study examines the role of communication sources and institutional trust as barriers and incentives as motivators of people’s attitudes toward vaccination and actual vaccination. Data were collected via an online panel survey among Israelis aged 18–55 and then analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings show that social media trust negatively mediates the effect of exposure to information on the vaccine on attitudes toward vaccination. However, mass media trust and institutional trust positively mediate this relationship. Incentives were effective motivators for forming positive attitudes and moderating the effect of institutional trust on attitude toward vaccination. This study facilitates a deeper understanding of health communication theory in pandemics and makes important recommendations for practitioners and policy makers.

O impacto dos media no medo de contrair COVID-19

Objective: The current study sought out to assess the mass media impact on the fear of contracting COVID-19. We focused on people's trust in information associated with media type, worry regarding daily reports of statistics, concerns about prevention measures and warnings in the media, news consumption frequency, evaluation of the media in explaining and informing about the pandemic, and the fear of contracting the disease. Methods: The sample comprised 349 participants who completed online a Sociodemographic Questionnaire, a Mass Media Opinion Questionnaire, and the Fear of Contracting Covid-19 Scale (FCCS). Results: Fear of contracting COVID-19 was higher in women compared to men. Participants with higher fear of contracting the disease trusted more in the information provided by television, newspapers, and radio, but not social media. Higher scores on the FCCS were associated with higher scores on clarification, awareness, and information conveyed by media. Trust in newspapers, feelings regarding daily reports of COVID-19, news frequency consumption, and media evaluation in explaining and informing about the pandemic were predictors of fear of contracting COVID-19. Conclusions: Mass media proved to be fundamental in raising awareness and sensitization of the population.

Analysis of the Impact of Media Trust on the Public’s Motivation to Receive Future Vaccinations for COVID-19 Based on Protection Motivation Theory

Object: Media trust is one of the essential factors affecting health behavior. Based on the protection motivation theory (PMT), this study explores the impact of different public media trust (traditional media, social media, interpersonal communication) on future COVID-19 vaccine motivation. Methods: The online survey was conducted from 14 April to 30 April 2021, and 2098 adults were recruited to participate in the online survey through the Wenjuanxing online survey platform. The survey included the PMT constructs (threat appraisal, coping appraisal, and motivation for future COVID-19 vaccination), trust in different media, vaccine hesitation reasons, and implementation of other non-pharmaceutical interventions. Structural equation model (SEM) was used for latent variable analysis, and Spearman linear correlation coefficient matrix was used to explore the relationships between variables. Results: In terms of trust in different media, participants who had a higher education level (p = 0.038), who was married (p = 0.002), and who had not been vaccinated against COVID-19 during the survey (p = 0.002) show greater trust in traditional media. Participants who were married (p = 0.001), who had a relatively high income (p = 0.020), and who had not been vaccinated (p = 0.044) show greater trust in social media. Older participants (p < 0.001) and married (p < 0.001) showed greater trust in interpersonal communication. In the structural equation, trust in traditional media had a direct positive impact on perceived severity (β = 0.172, p < 0.001) and a direct negative impact on internal rewards (β = −0.061, p < 0.05). Trust in both traditional and social media separately had a direct positive impact on self-efficacy (β = 0.327, p < 0.001; β = 0.138, p < 0.001) and response efficiency (β = 0.250, p < 0.001; β = 0.097, p < 0.05) and a direct negative impact on response costs (β = −0.329, p < 0.001; β = −0.114, p < 0.001). Trust in interpersonal communication had a direct positive impact on external rewards (β = 0.186, p < 0.001) and response costs (β = 0.091, p < 0.001). Overall, traditional media trust had an indirect positive influence on vaccine motivation (β = 0.311), social media trust had an indirect positive influence on vaccine motivation (β = 0.110), and interpersonal communication had an indirect negative influence on vaccine motivation (β = −0.022). Conclusion: This study supports the use of PMT as an intermediate variable to explore the effect of media trust on vaccination intention. High trust in traditional media has helped reduce vaccine hesitation, increased the public’s future COVID-19 vaccination motivation, and maintained other non-pharmacological interventions. Social media also had a certain promotion effect on vaccine motivation. In this context, attention should also be paid to interpersonal communication, and the science publicity work was suggested for an individual’s family members and friends in the future to improve the quality and ability of interpersonal communication.

Media Trust and Persuasion

This study examines the effect of media use on media trust and persuasion using a large-scale randomized field experiment, which was conducted in collaboration with the nation's most trusted media outlet. By randomly increasing the capacity for viewing its TV programs, we found that this treatment increased support for government policies by increasing program viewing time, which is, as we demonstrate, biased in favor of the government. Furthermore, we determined that the effect is driven mostly by those who trusted the outlet more than other broadcasters and that their levels of trust in the outlet were even *increased* by our treatment, which we call *endogenous persuasion*. By contrast, we did not discover heterogeneous effects with respect to political preferences. To better understand the mechanism underlying these findings, we developed a model of endogenous persuasion.

Generational Gaps in Media Trust and its Antecedents in Europe

We test generational differences in media trust and its antecedents, including political trust, interest, and orientation, as well as perceptions of media inaccuracy and media bias. We rely on original survey data from ten European countries, collected in 2019. We find no differences in the levels of media trust between generations, but we find that key correlates of media trust relate differently to it in different generations. For example, political interest is more strongly correlated with media trust for Millennials than for other generations. Perceptions of bias and inaccuracy have a strong negative correlation with media trust overall, but it is stronger for older generations. These results suggest, that in the long term, societal developments, and in particular debates about media bias and misinformation may impact media trust of young generations differently as they grow older—however, our data give no indication of that creating generational gaps in media trust.

Independent or a political pawn? How recipients perceive influences on journalistic work compared to journalists and what explains their perceptions

Journalistic autonomy is a prerequisite for the public function of journalism. Although most journalists in Western democracies indicate particularly low political or economic influences on their work, there is evidence that recipients assume that journalism is driven primarily by political and economic interests. These perceptual discrepancies can be problematic as perceived influences on journalistic work are known to reduce recipients’ media trust. Hence, this study addresses the extent to which recipients perceive influences on journalistic work, how their perceptions differ from that of journalists, and which variables explain recipients’ perceptions. A representative online survey of German recipients ( n = 1000) and the representative sample of German journalists of the Worlds of Journalism Study ( n = 775) demonstrate that recipients perceive stronger influences on journalistic work than journalists do, especially in regard to politics and economics. Furthermore, recipients who display higher levels of anti-elitism, selective exposure and media literacy assume stronger influences on journalistic work.

Komunikasi Bisnis melalui Social Media Trust guna Meningkatkan Customer Engagement pada Pixy Cosmetic

Building business communication through Social media trust to increase Customer engagement becomes an interesting discussion. Because nowadays business communication is required to build a sense of trust and intimacy so that customers are willing to engage with the company through social media content. especially with the report that shows a decrease in consumer trust in social media for 41% because the consumer feel their data privacy can be utilized for the company's business purposes. Also with pixy cosmetics company that has a high potential in Social media trust but their social media engagement rate is still below 50%. this study analyzes how Social media trust can be influential in increasing Customer engagement.The purpose of this research is to understand business communication built through Social media trust can be directed to increase Customer engagement. Research using quantitative approach by distributing questionnaires through google form and calculated using SPSS through validity, reliability, and simple linear regression tests. The results of this study showed that Social media trusts proved positive can have implications for the increase in Customer engagement of Pixy Cosmetics. customer trust in the communication content of Pixy Cosmetics social media business will increase Customer engagement. The engaged customers will be willing to read Pixy Cosmetics social media content, willing to engage in interactions, even willing to share Pixy Cosmetics business communication content on their social media. Abstrak. Membangun komunikasi bisnis melalui Social media trust untuk meningkatkan Customer engagement menjadi pembahasan yang menarik. Karena saat ini komunikasi bisnis dituntut untuk membangun rasa kepercayaan dan keakraban sehingga customer bersedia untuk engage dengan perusahaan melalui konten media sosial. terlebih dengan adanya report yang menunjukkan tentang penurunan kepercayaan konsumen terhadap media sosial sebanyak 41% disebabkan konsumen merasa privasi data dapat dimanfaatkan untuk tujuan bisnis perusahaan. Juga dengan perusahaan Pixy Cosmetics yang memiliki potensi Social media trust tinggi tetapi rate engagement media sosialnya masih dibawah 50%. penelitian ini menganalisis bagaimana Social media trust bisa berpengaruh dalam meningkatkan Customer engagement. tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk memahami komunikasi bisnis yang dibangun melalui Social media trust dapat diarahkan untuk meningkatkan Customer engagement. penelitian menggunakan pendekatan kuantitatif dengan menyebarkan kuesioner melalui google form dan dihitung menggunakan SPSS melalui uji validitas, reliabilitas, dan regresi linear sederhana. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa Social media trust terbukti positif dapat berimplikasi pada peningkatan Customer engagement Pixy Cosmetics. kepercayaan customer terhadap konten komunikasi bisnis media sosial Pixy Cosmetics akan meningkatkan Customer engagement. customer yang engage akan bersedia membaca konten media sosial Pixy Cosmetics, bersedia untuk terlibat dalam interaksi, bahkan bersedia membagikan konten komunikasi bisnis Pixy Cosmetics di media sosial mereka.

Low on trust, high on use datafied media, trust and everyday life

This article explores yet another paradox – aside from the privacy paradox – related to the datafication of media: citizens trust least the media they use most It investigates the role that daily life plays in shaping the trust that citizens place in datafied media. The study reveals five sets of heuristics guiding the trust assessments of citizens: (1) characteristics of media organisations, (2) old media standards, (3) context of use and purpose, (4) experiences of datafication and (5) understandings of datafication. The article discusses the use of these heuristics and the value that everyday life holds in assessing trust in datafied media. It concludes that, guided by a partial ‘structure of perception’ and enticed into trusting datafied media in the context of their daily lives, citizens may be highly concerned by the datafication of media but use them nevertheless.

A Downward Spiral? A Panel Study of Misinformation and Media Trust in Chile

Despite widespread concern, research on the consequences of misinformation on people's attitudes is surprisingly scant. To fill in this gap, the current study examines the long-term relationship between misinformation and trust in the news media. Based on the reinforcing spirals model, we analyzed data from a three-wave panel survey collected in Chile between 2017 and 2019. We found a weak, over-time relationship between misinformation and media skepticism. Specifically, initial beliefs on factually dubious information were negatively correlated with subsequent levels of trust in the news media. Lower trust in the media, in turn, was related over time to higher levels of misinformation. However, we found no evidence of a reverse, parallel process where media trust shielded users against misinformation, further reinforcing trust in the news media. The lack of evidence of a downward spiral suggests that the corrosive effects of misinformation on attitudes toward the news media are less serious than originally suggested. We close with a discussion of directions for future research.