Department of Communication, University at Buffalo.
Health Commun. 2024 Nov;39(13):3493-3501. doi: 10.1080/10410236.2024.2328456. Epub 2024 Mar 17.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination is an emerging environmental and public health crisis. Thus, it is crucial to understand public risk perception and communication behaviors surrounding this issue. Guided by the heuristic-systematic model of information processing, this study explores the impact of conflicting information and personal relevance on information insufficiency and information processing. Through an online experiment, 1,062 U.S. adults were randomly assigned to one of four conditions as part of a 2 (information type: conflicting vs. consistent) × 2 (personal relevance: high vs. low) between-subjects factorial design. Both main effect and interaction effect were detected. Specifically, information insufficiency was highest among participants in the high personal relevance and consistent information condition. Personal relevance also had a main effect on information processing. Conflicting information indirectly elevated information processing through increased information insufficiency, but only when personal relevance was low. These findings suggest the importance of providing consistent and personally relevant information related to the risk of PFAS contamination.
全氟和多氟烷基物质 (PFAS) 污染是当前环境和公共卫生领域的一大挑战。因此，深入了解公众对这一问题的风险感知和信息交流行为至关重要。本研究以信息处理启发式-系统式模型为指导，探讨了在 PFAS 污染问题上，冲突信息和个人相关性对信息不足和信息处理的影响。通过一项在线实验，1062 名美国成年人被随机分配到四种条件之一，这是一个 2（信息类型：冲突与一致）×2（个人相关性：高与低）的被试间因子设计。本研究检测到了主效应和交互效应。具体而言，在个人相关性高且信息一致的条件下，信息不足程度最高。个人相关性对信息处理也有主要影响。只有当个人相关性较低时，冲突信息才会通过增加信息不足程度来间接提高信息处理水平。这些发现表明，提供与 PFAS 污染风险相关的一致且与个人相关的信息非常重要。
