DDRIG in DRMS: Communicating Controversial Risk Issues - Effects of Inoculation Messages on Selective Exposure to Counterattitudinal Messages and Subsequent Persuasive Outcomes

Public communication surrounding controversial risk and policy issues is often characterized by competitive messaging, whereby different messengers compete to frame these risk issues in ways that they believe will shift public and policymaker opinions in favor of their interests. Inoculation is a long-standing persuasion theory that describes framing and responses to risk issues. Prior research suggests that inoculation messages can confer resistance to persuasion by another competing message. This study expands inoculation theory by testing people’s tendency to approach or avoid competing messages after being inoculated. If an inoculation message makes people more likely to proactively seek out competing information, they might be susceptible to persuasion from competing information compared to other messaging strategies that do not encourage people to explore competing information. This research tests and extends inoculation theory with the goal of helping risk communicators and policymakers to better understand how people process messages characterized by competition and controversy. In examining inoculation theory, the researchers are studying two issues that are characterized by competition and controversy – gun violence and nuclear energy. This research (N = 1,500) features a 2 (persuasive strategy – inoculation vs. one-sided) by 2 (issue direction – pro or con) by 2 (preexisting attitude direction – pro or con) between-subject experimental design, plus an offset control condition. It tests how people who read an inoculation message differ from other people in their selective exposure to counter messages or attack messages and subsequent persuasive outcomes. It further explores how these effects may differ among people whose initial attitudinal position is either consistent or inconsistent with the inoculation message advocated position. This research offers risk communicators theory-informed guidance on how to better employ an inoculation strategy to communicate with audiences in today’s high-choice media environment. Findings also shed light on the effects of risk messages among members of the public who hold a wide range of preexisting issue positions for controversial risk issues. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.