persuasive speech on covid 19

Persuasive Essay Guide

Persuasive Essay About Covid19

How to Write a Persuasive Essay About Covid19 | Examples & Tips

11 min read

Steps to Write a Persuasive Essay About Covid-19

Here are the steps to help you write a persuasive essay on this topic, along with an example essay:

Step 1: Choose a Specific Thesis Statement

Your thesis statement should clearly state your position on a specific aspect of COVID-19. It should be debatable and clear. For example:

Step 2: Research and Gather Information

Collect reliable and up-to-date information from reputable sources to support your thesis statement. This may include statistics, expert opinions, and scientific studies. For instance:

COVID-19 vaccination effectiveness data
Information on vaccine mandates in different countries
Expert statements from health organizations like the WHO or CDC

Step 3: Outline Your Essay

Create a clear and organized outline to structure your essay. A persuasive essay typically follows this structure:

Introduction
Background Information
Body Paragraphs (with supporting evidence)
Counterarguments (addressing opposing views)

Step 4: Write the Introduction

In the introduction, grab your reader's attention and present your thesis statement. For example:

Step 5: Provide Background Information

Offer context and background information to help your readers understand the issue better. For instance:

Step 6: Develop Body Paragraphs

Each body paragraph should present a single point or piece of evidence that supports your thesis statement. Use clear topic sentences, evidence, and analysis. Here's an example:

Step 7: Address Counterarguments

Acknowledge opposing viewpoints and refute them with strong counterarguments. This demonstrates that you've considered different perspectives. For example:

Step 8: Write the Conclusion

Summarize your main points and restate your thesis statement in the conclusion. End with a strong call to action or thought-provoking statement. For instance:

Step 9: Revise and Proofread

Edit your essay for clarity, coherence, grammar, and spelling errors. Ensure that your argument flows logically.

Step 10: Cite Your Sources

Include proper citations and a bibliography page to give credit to your sources.

Remember to adjust your approach and arguments based on your target audience and the specific angle you want to take in your persuasive essay about COVID-19.

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Examples of Persuasive Essay About Covid19

When writing a persuasive essay about the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s important to consider how you want to present your argument. To help you get started, here are some example essays for you to read:

Check out some more PDF examples below:

Persuasive Essay About Covid-19 Pandemic

Sample Of Persuasive Essay About Covid-19

Persuasive Essay About Covid-19 In The Philippines - Example

If you're in search of a compelling persuasive essay on business, don't miss out on our “ persuasive essay about business ” blog!

Examples of Persuasive Essay About Covid-19 Vaccine

Covid19 vaccines are one of the ways to prevent the spread of Covid-19, but they have been a source of controversy. Different sides argue about the benefits or dangers of the new vaccines. Whatever your point of view is, writing a persuasive essay about it is a good way of organizing your thoughts and persuading others.

A persuasive essay about the Covid-19 vaccine could consider the benefits of getting vaccinated as well as the potential side effects.

Below are some examples of persuasive essays on getting vaccinated for Covid-19.

Covid19 Vaccine Persuasive Essay

Persuasive Essay on Covid Vaccines

Interested in thought-provoking discussions on abortion? Read our persuasive essay about abortion blog to eplore arguments!

Examples of Persuasive Essay About Covid-19 Integration

Covid19 has drastically changed the way people interact in schools, markets, and workplaces. In short, it has affected all aspects of life. However, people have started to learn to live with Covid19.

Writing a persuasive essay about it shouldn't be stressful. Read the sample essay below to get idea for your own essay about Covid19 integration.

Persuasive Essay About Working From Home During Covid19

Searching for the topic of Online Education? Our persuasive essay about online education is a must-read.

Examples of Argumentative Essay About Covid 19

Covid-19 has been an ever-evolving issue, with new developments and discoveries being made on a daily basis.

Writing an argumentative essay about such an issue is both interesting and challenging. It allows you to evaluate different aspects of the pandemic, as well as consider potential solutions.

Here are some examples of argumentative essays on Covid19.

Argumentative Essay About Covid19 Sample

Argumentative Essay About Covid19 With Introduction Body and Conclusion

Looking for a persuasive take on the topic of smoking? You'll find it all related arguments in out Persuasive Essay About Smoking blog!

Examples of Persuasive Speeches About Covid-19

Do you need to prepare a speech about Covid19 and need examples? We have them for you!

Persuasive speeches about Covid-19 can provide the audience with valuable insights on how to best handle the pandemic. They can be used to advocate for specific changes in policies or simply raise awareness about the virus.

Check out some examples of persuasive speeches on Covid-19:

Persuasive Speech About Covid-19 Example

Persuasive Speech About Vaccine For Covid-19

You can also read persuasive essay examples on other topics to master your persuasive techniques!

Tips to Write a Persuasive Essay About Covid-19

Writing a persuasive essay about COVID-19 requires a thoughtful approach to present your arguments effectively.

Here are some tips to help you craft a compelling persuasive essay on this topic:

Choose a Specific Angle

Start by narrowing down your focus. COVID-19 is a broad topic, so selecting a specific aspect or issue related to it will make your essay more persuasive and manageable. For example, you could focus on vaccination, public health measures, the economic impact, or misinformation.

Provide Credible Sources

Support your arguments with credible sources such as scientific studies, government reports, and reputable news outlets. Reliable sources enhance the credibility of your essay.

Use Persuasive Language

Employ persuasive techniques, such as ethos (establishing credibility), pathos (appealing to emotions), and logos (using logic and evidence). Use vivid examples and anecdotes to make your points relatable.

Organize Your Essay

Structure your essay involves creating a persuasive essay outline and establishing a logical flow from one point to the next. Each paragraph should focus on a single point, and transitions between paragraphs should be smooth and logical.

Emphasize Benefits

Highlight the benefits of your proposed actions or viewpoints. Explain how your suggestions can improve public health, safety, or well-being. Make it clear why your audience should support your position.

Use Visuals -H3

Incorporate graphs, charts, and statistics when applicable. Visual aids can reinforce your arguments and make complex data more accessible to your readers.

Call to Action

End your essay with a strong call to action. Encourage your readers to take a specific step or consider your viewpoint. Make it clear what you want them to do or think after reading your essay.

Revise and Edit

Proofread your essay for grammar, spelling, and clarity. Make sure your arguments are well-structured and that your writing flows smoothly.

Seek Feedback

Have someone else read your essay to get feedback. They may offer valuable insights and help you identify areas where your persuasive techniques can be improved.

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Common Topics for a Persuasive Essay on COVID-19

Here are some persuasive essay topics on COVID-19:

The Importance of Vaccination Mandates for COVID-19 Control
Balancing Public Health and Personal Freedom During a Pandemic
The Economic Impact of Lockdowns vs. Public Health Benefits
The Role of Misinformation in Fueling Vaccine Hesitancy
Remote Learning vs. In-Person Education: What's Best for Students?
The Ethics of Vaccine Distribution: Prioritizing Vulnerable Populations
The Mental Health Crisis Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic
The Long-Term Effects of COVID-19 on Healthcare Systems
Global Cooperation vs. Vaccine Nationalism in Fighting the Pandemic
The Future of Telemedicine: Expanding Healthcare Access Post-COVID-19

In search of more inspiring topics for your next persuasive essay? Our persuasive essay topics blog has plenty of ideas!

To sum it up,

You have read good sample essays and got some helpful tips. You now have the tools you needed to write a persuasive essay about Covid-19. So don't let the doubts stop you, start writing!

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Frequently Asked Questions

Are there any ethical considerations when writing a persuasive essay about covid-19.

Yes, there are ethical considerations when writing a persuasive essay about COVID-19. It's essential to ensure the information is accurate, not contribute to misinformation, and be sensitive to the pandemic's impact on individuals and communities. Additionally, respecting diverse viewpoints and emphasizing public health benefits can promote ethical communication.

What impact does COVID-19 have on society?

The impact of COVID-19 on society is far-reaching. It has led to job and economic losses, an increase in stress and mental health disorders, and changes in education systems. It has also had a negative effect on social interactions, as people have been asked to limit their contact with others.

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Persuasive Essay Writing

Persuasive Essay About Covid 19

Top Examples of Persuasive Essay about Covid-19

Published on: Jan 10, 2023

Last updated on: Jan 29, 2024

Examples of Persuasive Essay About Covid-19

The coronavirus pandemic has everyone on edge. You can expect your teachers to give you an essay about covid-19. You might be overwhelmed about what to write in an essay.

Worry no more!

Here are a few examples to help get you started.

Persuasive Essay About Covid-19 Pandemic

Sample Of Persuasive Essay About Covid-19

Persuasive Essay About Covid-19 In The Philippines - Example

Check out some more persuasive essay examples to get more inspiration and guidance.

Examples of Persuasive Essay About the Covid-19 Vaccine

With so much uncertainty surrounding the Covid-19 vaccine, it can be challenging for students to write a persuasive essay about getting vaccinated.

Here are a few examples of persuasive essays about vaccination against covid-19.

Check these out to learn more.

Persuasive essay on the covid-19 vaccine

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Examples of Persuasive Essay About Covid-19 Integration

Writing a persuasive essay on Covid-19 integration doesn't have to be stressful or overwhelming.

With the right approach and preparation, you can write an essay that will get them top marks!

Here are a few samples of compelling persuasive essays. Give them a look and get inspiration for your next essay.

Integration of Covid-19 Persuasive essay

Integration of Covid-19 Persuasive essay sample

Examples of Argumentative Essay About Covid-19

Writing an argumentative essay can be a daunting task, especially when the topic is as broad as the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Read the following examples of how to make a compelling argument on covid-19.

Argumentative essay on Covid-19

Argumentative Essay On Covid-19

Examples of Persuasive Speeches About Covid-19

Writing a persuasive speech about anything can seem daunting. However, writing a persuasive speech about something as important as the Covid-19 pandemic doesnât have to be difficult.

So let's explore some examples of perfectly written persuasive essays.

Persuasive Speech About Covid-19 Example

Tips to Write a Persuasive Essay

Here are seven tips that can help you create a strong argument on the topic of covid-19.

Check out this informative video to learn more about effective tips and tricks for writing persuasive essays.

1. Start with an attention-grabbing hook:

Use a quote, statistic, or interesting fact related to your argument at the beginning of your essay to draw the reader in.

2. Make sure you have a clear thesis statement:

A thesis statement is one sentence that expresses the main idea of your essay. It should clearly state your stance on the topic and provide a strong foundation for the rest of your content.

3. Support each point with evidence:

To make an effective argument, you must back up each point with credible evidence from reputable sources. This will help build credibility and validate your claims throughout your paper.

4. Use emotional language and tone:

Emotional appeals are powerful tools to help make your argument more convincing. Use appropriate language for the audience and evokes emotion to draw them in and get them on board with your claims.

5. Anticipate counterarguments:

Use proper counterarguments to effectively address all point of views.

Acknowledge opposing viewpoints and address them directly by providing evidence or reasoning why they are wrong.

6. Stay focused:

Keep your main idea in mind throughout the essay, making sure all of your arguments support it. Donât stray off-topic or introduce unnecessary information that will distract from the purpose of your paper.

7. Conclude strongly:

Make sure you end on a strong note. Reemphasize your main points, restate your thesis statement, and challenge the reader to respond or take action in some way. This will leave a lasting impression in their minds and make them more likely to agree with you.

Writing an effective persuasive essay is a piece of cake with our guide and examples. Check them out to learn more!

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do you begin a persuasive essay.

To begin a persuasive essay, you must choose a topic you feel strongly about and formulate an argument or position. Start by researching your topic thoroughly and then formulating your thesis statement.

What are good topics for persuasive essays?

Good topics for persuasive essays include healthcare reform, gender issues, racial inequalities, animal rights, environmental protection, and political change. Other popular topics are social media addiction, internet censorship, gun control legislation, and education reform.

What impact does COVID-19 have on society?

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on society worldwide. It has changed the way we interact with one another. The pandemic has also caused economic disruption, forcing many businesses to close or downsize their operations.

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Open Access

Peer-reviewed

Research Article

Testing persuasive messaging to encourage COVID-19 risk reduction

Roles Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Roles Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

* E-mail: [email protected]

Affiliations Institution for Social and Policy Studies, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America, Center for the Study of American Politics, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America, Department of Political Science, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America

Roles Conceptualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliations Institute for Global Health, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America, Department of Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America

Roles Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Writing – review & editing

Scott E. Bokemper,
Gregory A. Huber,
Erin K. James,
Alan S. Gerber,
Saad B. Omer

Published: March 23, 2022
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0264782
Reader Comments

What types of public health messages are effective at changing people’s beliefs and intentions to practice social distancing to slow the spread of COVID-19? We conducted two randomized experiments in summer 2020 that assigned respondents to read a public health message and then measured their beliefs and behavioral intentions across a wide variety of outcomes. Using both a convenience sample and a pre-registered replication with a nationally representative sample of Americans, we find that a message that reframes not social distancing as recklessness rather than bravery and a message that highlights the need for everyone to take action to protect one another are the most effective at increasing beliefs and intentions related to social distancing. These results provide an evidentiary basis for building effective public health campaigns to increase social distancing during flu pandemics.

Citation: Bokemper SE, Huber GA, James EK, Gerber AS, Omer SB (2022) Testing persuasive messaging to encourage COVID-19 risk reduction. PLoS ONE 17(3): e0264782. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0264782

Editor: Camelia Delcea, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, ROMANIA

Received: October 20, 2021; Accepted: February 16, 2022; Published: March 23, 2022

Copyright: © 2022 Bokemper et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Data Availability: Replication materials have been uploaded to Harvard Dataverse, https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/VUKNOQ .

Funding: The authors acknowledge support from the Yale Institution for Social and Policy Studies, the Center for the Study of American Politics, and the Yale Institute for Global Health for funding this research.

Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Governments and public health officials have emphasized the importance of social (physical) distancing and other related measures in mitigating the spread of COVID-19. Given ongoing vaccine hesitancy, that vaccines are not fully effective in preventing COVID-19 infections, and the lack of vaccine access in certain parts of the world, the need for interventions that cause individuals to take actions that reduces the risk of infection remain essential. In practice, many messaging and communication strategies have been observed. However, despite these widespread and varied efforts, we lack a robust evidentiary basis for understanding the messages that are effective at increasing individuals’ willingness to embrace actions that reduce the spread of COVID-19.

We conducted two experiments to examine how different public health messages affect people’s beliefs about the efficacy of social distancing, their intentions to practice social distancing, and their attitudes about enforcing social norms, such as persuading others to practice social distancing and negatively judging those who do not. Experiment 1 was exploratory in nature and tested a large number of messages that combined elements from different conceptual frameworks discussed below in an effort to find messages that increased respondents’ intentions to practice social distancing and willingness to encourage others to do so.

In Experiment 2, we take the two most successful messages from Experiment 1 and conduct a preregistered trial using a nationally-representative sample of American adults against both a Baseline Informational control similar to that used in Experiment 1 and a placebo-treated control group that is not exposed to any information about COVID-19 risk reduction. In our second study, in light of ongoing discussions about other practices to reduce the spread of COVID-19, we also examined mask wearing, willingness to self-isolate if exposed to COVID-19, and cooperation with government contact tracing. In both studies, we examine the possibility that certain messages are more effective among specific segments of the population.

This paper offers three important contributions. First, we conduct a large-scale multi-message study of different messages designed to encourage COVID-19 risk reduction actions with multiple outcomes followed by a replication study of the most promising messages. Testing a large number of messages means we can directly assess the relative effectiveness of different messages, decompose compound messages into their component parts to understand which elements of those messages make them effective, and address concerns that prior studies testing individual messages and finding them effective are driven by false positives. Our repeat testing of promising messages also allows us to understand whether messages that are initially effective remain effective, helping to further rule out sampling variability and understand the durability of apparently effective messages in light of changing public rhetoric about COVID-19 [ 1 ]. Finally, our focus on multiple outcomes means that we can understand both whether messages are effective only for the targeted individual’s own risk reduction behavior or also affect their likelihood of encouraging others to undertake these protective behaviors.

Second, we test a large number of different messages, drawn from three broad and theoretically relevant categories. First, we test messages that differ in whether they frame social distancing as a self- or other-regarding action and whether they highlight reciprocity in producing desirable outcomes. While several other papers have considered other-regarding messages, we also explicitly test whether it is easier to promote other-regarding behavior when highlighting reciprocity—that is how the other-regarding behavior of other individuals is also helping to protect the person targeted for persuasion. Second, we test a set of messages we characterize as “values consistent.” These are messages that try to frame social distancing in terms of values individuals likely hold, so that individuals who might otherwise be resistant to the behavior undertake it. We also test messages observed in public health and political rhetoric at the time these studies were fielded. In all cases, we test these messages relative to both a pure control that does not provide any COVID-19 relevant content and to a baseline public health message that provides a simple informational basis for social distancing as well as an injunctive appeal for doing so. This latter comparison provides further leverage in isolating the effects of any novel persuasive rhetoric.

Finally, these messaging studies provide an important window into the efficacy and limitations of efforts to promote COVID-19 risk reduction in the early stages of the pandemic in the United States and as it later evolved. Existing work on public health messaging has demonstrated behavioral change in response to specific messages about tobacco use, consumption of sugary beverages, high risk sexual behavior, and vaccination uptake [ 2 – 6 ]. Messages used in past work often target one or a very small number of behaviors at a time. However, successful public health strategies that address the COVID-19 pandemic require large numbers of people to change a broad range of daily behaviors, such as how they interact with friends and relatives, whether they wear face coverings in public, and cooperation with government efforts to identify infectious individuals. This suggests that a more fruitful messaging strategy needs to change attitudes towards social distancing more broadly rather than targeted messaging to increase the prevalence of a specific action. Changes in attitudes could also increase the willingness of individuals to encourage others to engage in these behaviors—that is, to reinforce desired behaviors through social norms [ 7 – 9 ]. Importantly, unlike other health behaviors, many individuals are at a relatively low risk of serious COVID-19 complications, but their behavior is nonetheless important for reducing the risk to individuals who are more vulnerable as the disease continues to spread throughout the general population.

Before proceeding, we note that we use the term social distancing rather than physical distancing as it reflects the language at the time the experiments were fielded. As has been noted by other researcher, the term physical distancing may be more appropriate [ 10 – 14 ].

The emergence of COVID-19 created an urgent need for governments and public health officials around the globe to induce behavioral change among people in society writ large. While formal restrictions, like closing schools, prohibiting large gatherings, and restricting travel, can quickly produce behavioral change, slowing the spread of infectious diseases also requires voluntary action by individuals like working from home, avoiding dining inside restaurants, and refraining from socializing with friends and family. An important challenge for public health officials is persuading people to change a large number of behaviors that cause a significant disruption to daily routines.

Given the novelty of social distancing in the United States early in the pandemic and the large number of people being told to distance to keep themselves, their families, and their community safe, it was not clear ex ante what types of messaging strategies would be effective at increasing people’s willingness to dramatically change their daily lives. While considerable work on public health messaging has been produced during the pandemic, in the early stages it was important to understand whether any component of the “kitchen sink” messages observed being used could be effective at increasing people’s beliefs about the importance of social distancing and their intentions to engage in the behavior.

The large number of messages we tested were motivated by different approaches in behavioral science. Specifically, we combined appeals about 1) social norms, 2) self-interest vs. other-regarding motives, 3) individual vs. collective action, and 4) values reframing, to better understand whether attitudes toward social distancing could be changed with written persuasive messages.

Social norms and health behaviors

Public health campaigns often invoke social norms to encourage the public to practice positive health behaviors, like wearing sunscreen [ 15 , 16 ], quitting smoking [ 17 ], and using condoms [ 18 ] (see also [ 19 ]). Beliefs about social norms have been shown to be powerful motivators of health behavior (for review, see [ 20 ]). Unsurprisingly, social norms theory has been applied to understanding people’s behaviors during the COVID-19, such as the decision to wear a mask [ 7 , 8 ] and whether to practice social distancing [ 9 , 21 – 23 ]. Social norms can be classified as either descriptive , i.e. what most people do, or injunctive , i.e. people’s beliefs about what they should do or what is believed to be the morally acceptable thing to do [ 24 ].

Early in the pandemic, public health experts had to rely on appealing to injunctive norms, emphasizing what most people should be doing to stay safe. Prior to COVID-19 infection becoming widespread in the United States, most people were not engaging in social distancing making it difficult to credibly appeal to descriptive norms as a way to increase the prevalence of the behavior. An appropriate baseline for comparison of messaging strategies about social distancing is therefore one that includes an appeal to injunctive norms, an approach that was relatively common at the beginning of the pandemic. Our baseline message therefore explains that public health officials believe individuals ought to socially distance to end the COVID-19 pandemic and details the specific health behaviors that people should undertake.

However, as social distancing became more widespread in the early months of the pandemic, public health messaging could also emphasize descriptive norms in conjunction with injunctive norms. For both social distancing and mask wearing, people report being more likely to engage in a public health promoting behavior when they report that others around them are doing so as well [ 7 , 9 ]. Descriptive social norms may also play a causal role in the decision to wear a mask. In a vignette-based experiment, respondents in the United States and Italy were more likely to report that they would wear a mask or ask someone to wear theirs properly when other people were described as wearing masks compared to when they were not [ 8 ]. This positive effect has also been observed when accounting for local ordinances and has been shown to be stronger when people also endorse the injunctive norm that social distancing is the morally correct behavior [ 25 ]. Thus, the combination of an injunctive norm with a descriptive norm may be especially likely to increase people’s willingness to engage in social distancing.

Self-interest vs. prosocial concern for social distancing

Descriptive social norms provide information about the prevalence of a behavior in a group of people, but this does not provide information as to why others are engaging in the behavior per se. That is, people may be practicing social distancing to protect themselves from contracting COVID-19, or they may also be practicing social distancing to protect others. It could also be that people are motivated by some combination of both motives. Past research has observed that both a concern for one’s own health and a concern for the health of others are motivations for social distancing behavior. In a survey of adults in North America and Europe, over 80% of respondents reported that they practice social distancing to protect themselves and to protect others [ 26 ]. Both motivations were also shown to be predictive of social distancing behavior in a computer-based scenario experiment in which participants reported their social distancing behavior in common daily situations, like meeting a friend or going to a grocery store [ 27 ]. Regarding concern for one’s own health, people who believe that they are more vulnerable to the disease are more likely to report higher levels of social distancing behavior [ 28 – 30 ]. Survey research has also examined the correlation between individual differences in personality and values has found that people who are more concerned about the well-being of others are more likely to engage in social distancing [ 31 – 34 ] and that this concern for others may be more predictive of behavior than concern for oneself [ 35 ]. Further, people who were less willing to place risk on others in an incentivized experiment were more likely to report engaging in social distancing than those who placed another individual at greater risk [ 36 ].

While both self-interested and prosocial motives are present in people’s decisions to engage in social distancing, research on persuasion and public health messaging has produced mixed results for the effectiveness of appealing to either motive on behavioral intentions related to social distancing. Posters highlighting an “identifiable victim” or the spread of the disease to many others have been shown to decrease the willingness to engage in behaviors that were thought to spread COVID-19, like meeting with a friend or relative in their house [ 37 ]. Other work has found that inducing empathy for someone who is particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 can increase social distancing intentions [ 38 ]. Jordan, Rand, and Yoeli [ 39 ] observed that a prosocial framing of social distancing on a flier, i.e. avoid spreading coronavirus, was more effective than a self-interested frame, i.e. avoid getting coronavirus, in March 2020, although the prosocial frame was no more effective than the self-interested frame in a related experiment fielded a month later. Prosocial and empathy-inducing messages delivered as text have also been shown to be no more effective than the informational control to which they were added [ 40 ]. Thus, it is not clear whether persuasive messaging that appeals to protecting oneself or protecting others consistently produces the intended behavioral change beyond simply providing people with information.

Individual action vs. collective action

Descriptive social norms also do not convey how individual actions produce a benefit. Fundamentally, an outcome can be produced by individual or collective action, and the nature of a cooperative production function can differ substantially. In the case of individual production, public health campaigns could emphasize that each individual’s action produces a benefit. This approach aligns with past work on how beliefs about self-efficacy, an individual’s belief that they have the ability to perform an action to bring about a specific outcome, are an important determinant of whether an individual will perform a positive health behavior [ 41 , 42 ]. Beliefs about self-efficacy have been associated with intentions to practice social distancing in response to COVID-19 [ 43 , 44 ] and a hypothetical flu pandemic [ 45 ]. Thus, public health messaging may emphasize the importance of individual action as a means of protecting oneself and protecting others against COVID-19.

Alternatively, public health appeals could instead emphasize that the overall success of social distancing depends on collective action. Social distancing can be thought of as a collective action problem in which people have to work together to produce a group benefit. These types of cooperation dilemmas are widespread in human society and they vary in how the successful provision of a collective benefit is achieved [ 46 ]. One important feature of arguments that combine cooperative production with descriptive norms is that they invoke notions of reciprocity, the idea that one’s (costly) actions are being reciprocated by others in society, a factor that is shown to increase a willingness to undertake costly action [ 47 – 49 ].

The mapping between cooperative actions and outcomes may also vary. For one, social distancing to reduce the spread of COVID-19 could be thought of as a linear public good in which each individual’s social distancing provides an additional benefit to others. In this view, even if many people do not practice social distancing, those who do will still provide some benefit, although the fact each person’s actions matter may also encourage free-riding. Alternatively, social distancing could be thought of as a threshold public good in which the benefits are not realized until a critical mass of individuals engage in the behavior [ 50 ]. In this case, the possibility of not reaching a critical threshold may counteract the tendency to free-ride, although if the number of individuals falls short of the threshold, the benefit of social distancing is not produced and so one’s willingness to act may depend on believing enough other people are doing so.

Values reframing

One limitation of norm based approaches for policymakers and public health officials is that some people believe that COVID-19 does not pose a threat [ 27 , 51 ] or that social distancing violates another value they care about, such as displaying bravery rather than living in fear, an argument that appeared in the rhetoric of then President Donald Trump [ 52 , 53 ]. Rather than attempting to convince people with these beliefs about the threat posed by COVID-19, it may instead be effective when trying to persuade them to social distance to instead frame the action of social distancing as aligning with a value that they already hold [ 54 ]. For instance, bravery and risk-taking are generally viewed as attractive traits across a variety of cultures [ 55 – 57 ]. And indeed, many individuals, like medical professionals and emergency responders, demonstrated these desirable traits during the COVID-19 pandemic. Is reframing the act of social distancing as demonstrating an individual’s strength and bravery an effective strategy? A values-based approach has been shown to be effective at increasing attitudes toward masking among American conservatives when messaging appealed to loyalty moral values [ 58 ]. More broadly, other work has considered how metaphors can be useful ways to frame responses to the pandemic in ways that people can easily relate to [ 59 ].

The present experiments

We present results from two experiments that combined elements of the theoretical approaches describe above to assess the efficacy of persuasive messages to increase people’s willingness to practice social distancing.

In Experiment 1, we tested the efficacy of a large number of messages against a Baseline Informational control message that defined social distancing and stated that public health experts believe it would reduce the spread of COVID-19. We note that this message also invoked an injunctive norm because it states public health experts believe people ought to be social distancing. This was a more conservative approach than testing against an untreated control group, which we chose because we were searching for promising messages that could outperform the baseline content most similar to extant public health outreach and to which they were added in the experimental context. Our focus in Experiment 1 is to examine whether any message outperforms that Baseline Informational content to which it was added.

In Experiment 2, we re-tested the two most promising messages from Experiment 1 on a nationally-representative sample of Americans against the Baseline Informational control and a separate placebo control message.

Experiment 1

Participants were randomly assigned to read a Baseline Informational message or to one of ten intervention messages. Due to the number of comparisons that utilize the baseline message, we assigned participants to this message with a 3/13 chance, while the remaining ten intervention messages each had a 1/13 chance of assignment. The survey was administered using Qualtrics survey software. Both experiments presented here were fielded under an exemption granted by the Yale IRB and written consent was obtained before participants could begin the study.

Study sample

We used a self-service online platform provided by the survey firm Lucid to recruit a sample of American adults ( n = 3,184). Lucid provides a diverse sample of respondents that more closely matches demographic characteristics of nationally representative samples than other survey platforms like Amazon Mechanical Turk [ 60 ]. Approximately 81% of respondents assigned to an intervention completed the survey. Attrition was lower among those assigned to most of the intervention messages apart from the Baseline Informational message, by up to 8 percentage points. We did not find that pre-treatment covariates that explain outcomes differentially predicted attrition. The final analyzed sample was 2,568 respondents.

Participants were randomly assigned to read a Baseline Informational message that defined social distancing and stated that public health experts believe it would reduce the spread of COVID-19 or to one of ten intervention messages grouped into three categories. Each intervention message was added to the Baseline Informational message that included an injunctive norm statement. Table 1 shows the full text of the treatment messages and displays which parts of each tap into various theoretical constructs.

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0264782.t001

The first category of messages varied the beneficiary of social distancing behaviors and whether individual or collective action was needed to produce these benefits. In all of these messages, descriptive social norms were invoked by describing others as already social distancing (“Many other people are already social distancing.”). The beneficiary of social distancing was either the individual (“you could get sick and die”) or others (“members of your family and community could get sick and die”). We combined manipulation of the beneficiary with what was necessary to produce this benefit. Specifically, social distancing was framed as providing a benefit if an individual practiced it (individual action, “when you practice social distancing you reduce the risk”), if enough other people practiced it (threshold collective action, “if enough people practice social distancing then we can reduce the risk”), or for each additional person who practiced (linear collective action, “every person who practices social distancing reduces the risk”). As we note above, the latter two frames about collective production also emphasized norms of reciprocity in that they linked others’ behaviors to outcomes relevant for the respondent. Crossing these two dimensions of manipulation produced the six total intervention messages in this category.

The second category of messages were efforts at value reframing and stated that people who believe they are being brave by continuing with their daily routines despite the threat of the virus are actually being reckless. Theses message start with an example of people who are being brave during the pandemic, e.g. firefighters, and then takes a seemingly desirable action as incompatible with a value and reframes it instead as selfish and unattractive (“people who don’t practice social distancing… aren’t brave, they are reckless”). The message also emphasizes that by not social distancing, people are placing others at risk, i.e. the opposite of true bravery. This reframing was either presented alone (Reframing Bravery) or with language about how people who spread COVID-19 pollute the environment around them (Reframing Bravery + Pollution).

The final category of messages invoked the idea that practicing social distancing would facilitate returning to “normal” life before the COVID-19 pandemic (“Social distancing now means we can more quickly return to our normal way of life”) or that doing so involved adapting to an unavoidable “new normal” (“we are adapting to the ‘new normal’ necessary because of COVID-19”). These two messages were designed to mirror rhetoric being used by political leaders and in the media and were added to the Other-regarding, Linear Cooperation message.

We form four mean scales as outcome measures, with all scales ranging from 0 to 1 with 1 indicating behaviors or beliefs associated with reducing the spread of COVID-19. The four scales were: 1) a BELIEFS/norms scale that assesses agreement with beliefs about social distancing being important for your health and others people’s health and whether an individual would feel guilty for not practicing social distancing, 2) a social distancing (DISTANCING) scale that captures people’s intended willingness to social distance, avoid attending gatherings, forego elective medical procedures, and wear a mask, 3) a FOOD behavior scale that assesses people’s willingness to avoid high-risk food related behavior like going to a restaurant, and 4) a persuade/evaluate OTHERS scale that measures whether people would persuade others to social distance, report a business for violating rules, and negatively judge non-compliers. Several items in the DISTANCING and FOOD scales had previously been shown to be affected by rhetoric focusing on selfish and prosocial motivations for social distancing [ 39 ]. All of the outcomes were coded such that higher values corresponded to attitudes and behavioral intentions consistent with greater social distancing. The internal consistency of the scales was generally good with the exception of the FOOD scale, which had a Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.65. Full text of outcome measures and scaling information appears in S1 Appendix .

We analyze our data using OLS regression comparing outcomes to the Baseline Informational message using indicators for each treatment and including pre-treatment demographic covariates to improve efficiency. Two messages appear particularly promising compared to the Baseline Informational message, with all treatment effect estimates plotted in Fig 1 . (Underlying regression analysis and distribution of scale outcomes appears in the S2 Appendix ). Among the messages that appear most effective, the Other-regarding, Linear Cooperation message also performs well relative to the Baseline Informational condition. For all four scales, the estimated effects of this message are positive. For the social distancing scale, the effect is .034 (95% CI: .002, .067) or 14.7% of a standard deviation. Respondents’ beliefs about the importance of social distancing also increase with an estimated effect of .040 (95% CI: -.002, .084) on the BELIEFS scale. The effect on the FOOD scale is .038 (95% CI: -.003, .079). The latter two effects are not statistically significant at the conventional 5% level, but do provide evidence that the Other-regarding, Linear Cooperation message broadly moved beliefs relevant to practicing social distancing.

Estimates displayed with 95% confidence intervals. Each panel shows the effect of each treatment message relative to the Baseline Informational condition for a primary outcome scale. All outcomes scales were coded such that higher values indicate more positive attitudes or intentions toward social distancing.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0264782.g001

The Reframing Bravery message increases all four scale outcomes. The estimated effect on the OTHERS scale is .058 (95% CI: .023, .092), indicating that respondents who read the Reframing Bravery message report more willingness to enforce norms to promote social distancing. We also observe suggestive evidence that this message affects both the BELIEFS scale and the own social distancing scale. For the BELIEFS scale the estimate is .037 (95% CI: -.005, .079) or about 12.8% of a standard deviation, while the effect for the DISTANCING scale is .030 (95% CI: -.004, .064) or about 13% of a standard deviation. The estimated effect for the FOOD scale is positive, but imprecise.

It is also interesting that two messages appear, on average, less effective than the Baseline Informational content and the Other-regarding, Linear Cooperation message to which they are added. While no coefficient estimates are individually statistically significant, both the Return to Normal and New Normal messages are generally less effective than the content to which they were added across our primary outcome measures.

We also conduct a number of exploratory analyses for heterogeneous treatment effects by age, gender, partisanship, and geographic location and do not uncover large differences in average treatment effectiveness across these groups ( S3 Appendix ). Due to the rhetoric among the public and political elites surrounding the degree to which measures to address the spread of COVID-19 infringe upon people’s liberties, we elicited people’s adoption of a liberty moral foundation that captures their belief about the role of government in society [ 61 ]. We found evidence that intervention effectiveness varies by endorsement of liberty values. Compared to respondents below the mean in their adoption of liberty values, respondents who are above the mean in their adoption of liberty are more responsive to the Reframing Bravery message than to the Baseline Informational condition on the BELIEFS scale (p = .05) and OTHERS scale (p < .01), with weaker evidence for the DISTANCING scale (p = .14). The effects of the Reframing Bravery message are uniformly statistically insignificant for those low in liberty.

The two most promising messages were the Other-regarding, Linear Cooperation message and the Reframing Bravery message. Both were the highest performing messages on at least two of the four outcome scales when compared to the baseline content to which they were added. Given this, these messages were the ones that were selected to be re-tested on a nationally representative sample of Americans to discern whether they are more effective than the Baseline Informational content to which they were added. Additionally, we believe there was value in retesting the most effective messages at a later point in the time in the pandemic when attitudes about social distancing may have become more crystallized, perhaps making people harder to persuade.

Experiment 2

Experiment 2 retested the two most successful interventions in Experiment 1 (Reframing Bravery, and Other-regarding Linear Cooperation and the Baseline Informational compared to an untreated Control message about an unrelated topic (bird feeding)). Experiment 2 was a pre-registered trial fielded between mid-July and early August 2020, a time when the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States had become far more widespread than during Experiment 1 [ 62 ]. We allocated respondents with equal probability to each intervention and written consent was obtained prior to participation.

We used the survey firm YouGov to recruit a nationally-representative sample of American adults. Respondents completed the study on their personal electronic devices. Power calculations indicated greater than 80% power to detect treatment effects 75% as large as in Experiment 1 with an N of 3,000 assuming scale distributions were the same as observed in Experiment 1. The study was fielded twice because of an implementation error in programming by the vendor for survey content that followed the items analyzed here for the first fielding (the error was for items for an unrelated project that was not about COVID-19, and which followed all of the items analyzed here). Consequently, the vendor re-fielded the entire survey resulting in a sample that was approximately twice as large as the sample described in our pre-registration document ( n = 3,000 pre-registered, n = 6,079 in final analysis dataset). YouGov does not provide data for respondents who decline to participate or drop out during the study.

The Baseline Informational treatment message was slightly modified from Experiment 1 to reflect changing guidance during the pandemic. It read:

To end the COVID-19 pandemic, public health officials believe we should practice social distancing. Social distancing means that you should:

Work from home when possible
Wear a mask that covers your nose and mouth when outside of your home around other people
Stay at least 6 feet away from others if you need to go out in public, for example to shop for food or medicine
Avoid large gatherings, especially indoors
Stay home except to seek medical care if you are sick or have recently had close contact (closer than 6 feet for at least 15 minutes) with a person with COVID-19
Avoid pooled rides or rides where multiple passengers are picked up who are not in the same household

The additional content added to this baseline for the Other-regarding, Linear Cooperation and the Reframing Bravery messages was unchanged from how they appear in Table 1 .

We made incremental changes to the four scales (BELIEFS, DISTANCING, FOOD, and OTHERS) used in Experiment 1 to reflect changing policies and circumstances. Given that contemporary discourse around social distancing had changed, we included new items that reflected what people were likely thinking about in their daily lives. We added items to the DISTANCING scale about attendance at religious services, participation in political events, self-isolation following COVID-19 exposure, and alerting public health authorities if diagnosed with COVID-19. For the OTHERS scale we added an item about cooperating in contact tracing. In the months between our studies, the behaviors we added to the scales had become salient in public discourse about COVID-19 risk reduction. We also included a new MASK scale composed of items about wearing a face covering in six circumstances, as well as relative willingness to shop at a store that requires rather than prohibits face masks. These additional items (and perhaps the passage of time) increased the reliability of the four scales that were used in Experiment 1 with the FOOD scale having the lowest reliability (Cronbach’s alpha of 0.78). The modified outcome text and scale reliability appears in S4 Appendix .

At the time this experiment was fielded, messaging outside of the experimental context about the importance of items in our DISTANCING scale had become far more widespread, although mask wearing remained a contested policy tool. It was therefore unclear whether messaging would be similarly effective in this new context.

We find baseline increases in scores on the BELIEFS and DISTANCING scales over time (i.e., averages for these outcomes in the bird feeding Control message in Experiment 2 are greater than the averages in the Baseline Informational condition in Experiment 1). Fig 2 plots main effects of message efficacy compared to the Control message for all outcomes (underlying regression analysis and distribution of scale outcomes appears in S5 Appendix ). The Baseline Informational message is associated with increased BELIEFS and DISTANCING scores (p < .05, one-sided, in both cases) relative to the bird feeding message. The Reframing Bravery and Other-regarding, Linear Cooperation messages appear to be more effective, however. Each is associated with a statistically significant increase in four outcomes: the BELIEFS, DISTANCING, OTHERS, and MASKS scales, with p-values < .05, one-sided, in all cases. The magnitudes of these effects are approximately 0.1 standard deviation for each measure. None of the messages have large or statistically precise effects on the FOOD scale.

Compared to the placebo control, the Baseline Informational message, the Reframing Bravery message, and the Other-regarding, Linear Cooperation increase beliefs and reported behavioral intentions to practice social distancing. These are OLS regression coefficient estimates for each primary outcome by treatment compared to the placebo control with 90% confidence intervals. The dashed vertical line represents the effect of the Baseline Informational Message on an outcome. All outcomes scales were coded such that higher values indicate more positive attitudes or intentions toward social distancing.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0264782.g002

There is less clear evidence that these messages are incrementally more effective that the Baseline Informational content to which they are added. For the BELIEFS, DISTANCING, OTHERS, and MASKS scales, both the Reframing Bravery and Other-regarding, Linear Cooperation messages are associated with effects that are always larger than the Baseline Informational message, with the magnitudes of these differences ranging from 22% to 88% and averaging 50%. Because effect sizes are still modest, however, these differences are not generally statistically distinguishable at p < .05, two-sided, with the notable exception of the Reframing Bravery message which has an effect 88% larger than the Baseline Informational message on the OTHERS scale.

Differences in effects for those who endorse liberty values partially confirm Study 1 (See S6 Appendix ). Compared to the Control message, the Reframing Bravery message is more effective among those who endorse liberty for encouraging social distancing—it increases DISTANCING measure by .027 units (90% CI: .009, .043), an effect that is 70% larger than the effect for those who do not endorse liberty values. This difference is not significant, however, and the estimates for the other outcomes are inconsistently signed. If we instead focus on the relative effectiveness of the Reframing Bravery message compared to the Baseline Informational message, a test that accounts for the fact that those who endorse liberty values may respond differently to the baseline content, we uncover more evidence that those who endorse liberty values respond more to the Reframing Bravery treatment. In particular, for those who endorse liberty values, the Reframing Bravery message is between 20% and 125% more effective than the Baseline message for the five primary outcomes. The largest difference is for the DISTANCING scale outcome, where the difference is .014 (90% CI: -.004, .033).

In addition to our scale outcomes, we also examine results for several individual items of particular interest, including the three measures of compliance with government policies to reduce the spread of COVID-19 discussed above: Self-isolation for those exposed, alerting authorities if testing positive, and cooperation with authorities in contact tracing. These items are included in the DISTANCING behavior index, but are also individually of interest because they are areas where governments have reported difficulty obtaining compliance. Fig 3 show that the Reframing Bravery message is associated with a statistically significant increase in self-isolation and willingness to alert authorities, effects that are larger than and statistically distinguishable from the effects of the Baseline Informational message. (Underlying regression results appear in S5 Appendix ) Similarly, the Other-regarding, Linear Cooperation message is associated with a statistically significant increase in self-isolation and willingness to cooperate in contact tracing, effects that are larger than and statistically distinguishable from the effects of the Baseline Informational message.

The Reframing Bravery and Other-regarding, Linear Cooperation message increase respondents reported intentions to not engage in key behaviors to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and to cooperate with government officials, even compared to the Baseline Informational message. This figure shows OLS regression coefficient estimates compared to the Control message with 95% confidence intervals. All outcomes scales were coded such that higher values indicate more positive attitudes or intentions toward social distancing.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0264782.g003

Second, we also examine effects for three isolated behaviors, attendance at religious gatherings and inside visits to a friend and family member’s house. Religious gatherings emerged as sources of conflict over prohibitions on group meetings ( 18 ), while private indoor meetings are thought to be vehicles by which asymptomatic individuals expose those who are at more serious risk for infection. Once again, these items are individually in the DISTANCING behavior index. Results appear in Fig 3 . The Reframing Bravery Message is associated with statistically significant increases in all three outcomes, while the Other-regarding, Linear Cooperation message is associated with changes in both the family and friend small gathering outcomes. The Reframing Bravery effect for attendance at religious services is statistically distinguishable from the effect of the Baseline Informational message (p < .05). The Other-regarding, Linear Cooperation effect for each type of private gatherings is also statistically larger than the effect of the Baseline Informational message (p < .03 and .05, respectively).

In Experiment 2 we find that the Baseline Informational message, the Other-regarding Linear Cooperation message, and the Reframing Bravery message outperform the placebo control message on the primary outcome scales, with the exception of the FOOD scale. Moreover, this experiment replicates the finding from Experiment 1 that respondents who are high in liberty values are more responsiveness to the Reframing Bravery message.

General discussion

The results presented here show that public health messaging can increase behavioral intentions and beliefs about social distancing that helps reduce the spread of COVID-19. Specifically, we observed that an Other-regarding, Linear Cooperation message that 1) focused people on protecting others, 2) increased the salience of risk presented by COVID-19, 3) emphasized that other people were social distancing, and 4) stated that every person who practices social distancing protects others was effective at increasing attitudes and behavioral intentions related to social distancing. We also found that a Reframing Bravery message that 1) gave examples of bravery, 2) reframe not social distancing as not being brave, but being reckless, and 3) emphasized that not social distancing is not attractive and places others at risk was effective. Importantly, these messages are effective in both an initial study fielded in May 2020 and in a replication study fielded in August 2020, and this efficacy is in comparison to a Baseline Informational message communicating the factual basis for social distancing behavior and instructing others to do so. We observe these effects for measures of a respondent’s own intended social distancing activities as well as for how individuals are likely to behave toward others who do not social distance.

It is also worth noting that a simple Baseline Informational message that invoked an injunctive norm that people should be social distancing and explained what social distancing was outperformed a placebo-control condition in Experiment 2. This suggests that relatively early in the pandemic simply providing people with information and emphasizing that doing these things is the correct behavior may be enough to increase attitudes toward social distancing and behavioral intentions to do so.

Moral foundations theory, [ 61 , 63 ] which postulates that humans have several underlying common values that are differentially emphasized by various individuals, has been used to explain health behaviors such as vaccination [ 64 ]. Increasingly, opposition to public health measures is grounded in the language of personal freedoms [ 64 ] and, indeed, concerns about government infringement on personal freedoms have arisen during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 65 , 66 ]. We find that emphasis on liberty value modifies the impact of the Reframing Bravery intervention indicating that such messages are particularly powerful for those for whom personal freedoms are important.

A potential avenue future research could explore how messaging strategies interact with people’s motivation for social distancing. Past research has found that many people engage in social distancing to protect themselves and to protect others [ 26 ]. However, other work has observed that people who endorsed conspiracy theories were more concerned about themselves and were also less likely to report intentions to practice social distancing [ 67 ]. Given heterogeneity in people’s motivations to protect themselves or to protect others, some messaging strategies, like the Other-regarding, Linear Cooperation message, may have different effects depending on whether it aligns with the motivation that a given individual holds. More broadly, future work should consider how people’s concern for themselves and concern for others interact with how receptive they are to specific public health campaigns.

This work has several limitations that should be considered alongside the results. First, while we observe robust attitudinal change in response to persuasive messaging, we do not observe actual behavioral change. Given the relatively small effect sizes, approximately 0.1 standard deviation increases on the primary outcomes in Experiment 2, these treatment messages as written communication may be insufficient to push people to change their behavior. Second, we utilized compound treatments that invoked many different constructs that are thought to produce attitude and behavioral change. Future work should focus on disentangling whether specific elements of the messages are particularly effective at promoting social distancing. Third, policymakers and public health experts had repeatedly emphasized the importance of social distancing and survey respondents may have over-reported their intentions to social distance due to social desirability concerns, though past work has found that reported behavioral intentions correlate with actual behavior [ 68 ] and people’s self-reported behavior is not affected by social desirability bias [ 69 ]. Third, as the COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly evolved and different behaviors, like masking or vaccination, have become more salient in public discourse, the messages that we find to be effective in summer 2020 may not be as effective as the pandemic has progressed. Finally, we only measured attitudes and behavioral intentions at a single point in time so we cannot make claims about the duration of the effects that we observe.

Our findings can inform both mass public health messaging initiatives (e.g. those deployed on social and electronic media) as well as interpersonal communication strategies such as healthcare provider-level communication and persuasion. While this work shows robust attitudinal changes in response to public health messaging, additional research is necessary to determine which specific elements of the treatments produced these changes.

Supporting information

S1 appendix. experiment 1 outcomes..

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0264782.s001

S2 Appendix. Regression results for Fig 1 and distribution of outcomes for Experiment 1.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0264782.s002

S3 Appendix. Subgroup analyses for Experiment 1.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0264782.s003

S4 Appendix. Experiment 2 outcome measures.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0264782.s004

S5 Appendix. Regression results for Figs 2 and 3 and distribution of outcomes for Experiment 2.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0264782.s005

S6 Appendix. Liberty endorsement subgroup analysis for Experiment 2.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0264782.s006

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Persuasion key in encouraging people to stay home during Covid-19

13 April 2021

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The Morning Newsletter

Vaccine Persuasion

Many vaccine skeptics have changed their minds.

By David Leonhardt

When the Kaiser Family Foundation conducted a poll at the start of the year and asked American adults whether they planned to get vaccinated, 23 percent said no.

But a significant portion of that group — about one quarter of it — has since decided to receive a shot. The Kaiser pollsters recently followed up and asked these converts what led them to change their minds . The answers are important, because they offer insight into how the millions of still unvaccinated Americans might be persuaded to get shots, too.

First, a little background: A few weeks ago, it seemed plausible that Covid-19 might be in permanent retreat, at least in communities with high vaccination rates. But the Delta variant has changed the situation. The number of cases is rising in all 50 states .

Although vaccinated people remain almost guaranteed to avoid serious symptoms, Delta has put the unvaccinated at greater risk of contracting the virus — and, by extension, of hospitalization and death. The Covid death rate in recent days has been significantly higher in states with low vaccination rates than in those with higher rates:

(For more detailed state-level charts, see this piece by my colleagues Lauren Leatherby and Amy Schoenfeld Walker. The same pattern is evident at the county level, as the health policy expert Charles Gaba has been explaining on Twitter.)

Nationwide, more than 99 percent of recent deaths have occurred among unvaccinated people, and more than 97 percent of recent hospitalizations have occurred among the unvaccinated, according to the C.D.C. “Look,” President Biden said on Friday, “the only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated.”

The three themes

What helps move people from vaccine skeptical to vaccinated? The Kaiser polls point to three main themes.

(The themes apply to both the 23 percent of people who said they would not get a shot, as well as to the 28 percent who described their attitude in January as “wait and see.” About half of the “wait and see” group has since gotten a shot.)

1. Seeing that millions of other Americans have been safely vaccinated.

Consider these quotes from Kaiser’s interviews :

“It was clearly safe. No one was dying.” — a 32-year-old white Republican man in South Carolina “I went to visit my family members in another state and everyone there had been vaccinated with no problems.” — a 63-year-old Black independent man in Texas “Almost all of my friends were vaccinated with no side effects.” — a 64-year-old Black Democratic woman in Tennessee

This suggests that emphasizing the safety of the vaccines — rather than just the danger of Covid, as many experts (and this newsletter) typically do — may help persuade more people to get a shot.

A poll of vaccine skeptics by Echelon Insights, a Republican firm, points to a similar conclusion. One of the most persuasive messages, the skeptics said, was hearing that people have been getting the vaccine for months and it is “working very well without any major issues.”

2. Hearing pro-vaccine messages from doctors, friends and relatives.

For many people who got vaccinated, messages from politicians, national experts and the mass media were persuasive. But many other Americans — especially those without a college degree — don’t trust mainstream institutions. For them, hearing directly from people they know can have a bigger impact.

“Hearing from experts,” as Mollyann Brodie, who oversees the Kaiser polls, told me, “isn’t the same as watching those around you or in your house actually go through the vaccination process.”

Here are more Kaiser interviews:

“My daughter is a doctor and she got vaccinated, which was reassuring that it was OK to get vaccinated.” — a 64-year-old Asian Democratic woman in Texas “Friends and family talked me into it, as did my place of employment.” — a 28-year-old white independent man in Virginia “My husband bugged me to get it and I gave in.” — a 42-year-old white Republican woman in Indiana “I was told by my doctor that she strongly recommend I get the vaccine because I have diabetes.” — a 47-year-old white Republican woman in Florida

These comments suggest that continued grass-roots campaigns may have a bigger effect at this stage than public-service ad campaigns. The one exception to that may be prominent figures from groups that still have higher vaccine skepticism, like Republican politicians and Black community leaders.

3. Learning that not being vaccinated will prevent people from doing some things.

There is now a roiling debate over vaccine mandates , with some hospitals, colleges, cruise-ship companies and others implementing them — and some state legislators trying to ban mandates. The Kaiser poll suggests that these requirements can influence a meaningful number of skeptics to get shots, sometimes just for logistical reasons.

“Hearing that the travel quarantine restrictions would be lifted for those people that are vaccinated was a major reason for my change of thought.” — a 43-year-old Black Democratic man in Virginia “To see events or visit some restaurants, it was easier to be vaccinated.” — a 39-year-old white independent man in New Jersey “Bahamas trip required a COVID shot.” — a 43-year-old Hispanic independent man in Pennsylvania

THE LATEST NEWS

Remote voting in Congress has become a personal and political convenience for House members of both parties.

The Times’s Mark Leibovich profiled Ron Klain , Biden’s chief of staff, whom some Republicans call “Prime Minister Klain.”

Flooding in Western Europe killed at least 183 people, with hundreds still missing . “The German language has no words, I think, for the devastation,” Chancellor Angela Merkel said.

Burned-out landscapes and dwindling water supplies are threatening Napa Valley, the heart of America’s wine industry .

Here’s the latest on the extreme heat and wildfires in the West.

MORNING READS

Into the woods: Smartphones are steering novice hikers onto trails they can’t handle .

Driven: Maureen Dowd meets Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s “weirdly normal” C.E.O.

The Games: Has the world had enough of the Olympics ?

A Times classic: Try this science-based 7-minute workout .

Quiz time: The average score on our most recent news quiz is 8.1 out of 11. See if you can do better .

Lives Lived: Gloria Richardson famously brushed aside a National Guardsman’s bayonet as she led a campaign for civil rights in Cambridge, Md. She died at 99 .

ARTS AND IDEAS

What matters in a name sign.

Shortly after the 2020 presidential election, five women teamed up to assign Vice President-elect Kamala Harris a name sign — the equivalent of a person’s name in American Sign Language.

The women — Ebony Gooden, Kavita Pipalia, Smita Kothari, Candace Jones and Arlene Ngalle-Paryani — are members of the “capital D Deaf community,” a term some deaf people use to indicate they embrace deafness as a cultural identity and communicate primarily through ASL.

Through social media, people submitted suggestions and put the entries to a vote. The result: A name sign that draws inspiration, among other things, from the sign for “lotus flower” — the translation of “Kamala” in Sanskrit — and the number three, highlighting Harris’s trifecta as the first Black, Indian and female vice president.

“Name signs given to political leaders are usually created by white men, but for this one we wanted to not only represent women, but diversity — Black women, Indian women,” Kothari said. Read more about it, and see videos of the signs . — Sanam Yar, a Morning writer

PLAY, WATCH, EAT

What to cook.

Debate ham and pineapple pizza all you want. There’s no denying the goodness of caramelized pineapple with sausages .

What to Watch

Based on books by R.L. Stine, the “Fear Street” trilogy on Netflix offers gore and nostalgia.

“ Skipped History ,” a comedy web series, explores overlooked people and events that shaped America.

Now Time to Play

The pangram from Friday’s Spelling Bee was lengthened . Here is today’s puzzle — or you can play online .

Here’s today’s Mini Crossword , and a clue: Hot tub nozzles (four letters).

If you’re in the mood to play more, find all our games here .

Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. — David

P.S. Ashley Wu , who has worked for Apple and New York magazine, has joined The Times as a graphics editor for newsletters. You’ll see her work in The Morning soon.

Here’s today’s print front page .

“ The Daily ” is about booster shots. On the Book Review podcast , S.A. Cosby talks about his new novel.

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What to watch: How other formats, such as interactive chatbots and videos, might influence persuasiveness. And whether message tailoring could persuade specific population subgroups.

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Published: 11 December 2023

The art of rhetoric: persuasive strategies in Biden’s inauguration speech: a critical discourse analysis

Nisreen N. Al-Khawaldeh 1 ,
Luqman M. Rababah ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-3871-3853 2 ,
Ali F. Khawaldeh 1 &
Alaeddin A. Banikalef 2

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume 10 , Article number: 936 ( 2023 ) Cite this article

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Language and linguistics

This research investigated the main linguistic strategies used in President Biden’s inauguration speech presented in 2021. Data were analyzed in light of Fairclough’s CDA framework: macro-structure (thematic)—intertextually; microstructure in syntax analysis (cohesion); stylistic (lexicon choice to display the speaker’s emphasis); and rhetoric in terms of persuasive function. The thematic analysis of the data revealed that Biden used certain persuasive strategies including creativity, metaphor, contrast, indirectness, reference, and intertextuality, for addressing critical issues. Creative expressions were drawn highlighting and magnifying significant real-life issues. Certain concepts and values (i.e., unity, democracy, and racial justice) were also accentuated as significant elements of America’s status and Biden’s ideology. Intertextuality was employed by resorting to an extract from one of the American presidents in order to convince the Americans and the international community of his ideas, vision, and policy. It appeared that indirect expressions were also used for discussing politically sensitive issues to acquire a political and interactional advantage over his political opponents. His referencing style showed his interest in others and their unity. Significant ideologies encompassing unity, equality, and freedom for US citizens were stated implicitly and explicitly. The study concludes that the effective use of linguistic and rhetorical devices is important to construct meanings in the world, be persuasive, and convey the intended vision and underlying ideologies.

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Introduction

The significance of language in political and academic realms has gained prominence in recent times (Iqbal et al., 2020 ; Kozlovskaya, et al., 2020 ; Moody & Eslami, 2020 ). Language serves as a potent instrument in politics, embodying a crucial role in the struggle for power to uphold and enact specific beliefs and interests. Undeniably, language encompasses elements that unveil diverse intended meanings conveyed through political speeches, influencing, planning, accompanying, and managing every political endeavor. Effectiveness in political speeches relies on meeting criteria such as credibility, logic, and emotional appeal (Nikitina, 2011 ). Credibility is attained through possessing a particular amount of authority and understanding of the selected issue. Logical coherence is evident when the speech is clear and makes sense to the audience. In addition, establishing an emotional connection with the audience is essential to capture and maintain their attention.

Political speech, a renowned genre of discourse, reveals a lot about how power is distributed, exerted, and perceived in a country. Speech is a powerful tool for shaping the political thinking and political “mind” of a nation, allowing the actors and recipients of political activity to acquire a certain political vision (Fairclough, 1989 ). Political scientists are primarily interested in the historical implications of political decisions and acts, and they are interested in the political realities that are formed in and via discourse (Schmidt, 2008 ; Pierson & Skocpol, 2002 ). Linguists, on the other hand, have long been fascinated by language patterns employed to deliver politically relevant messages to certain locations in order to accomplish a specific goal.

Critical discourse analysis (CDA) is a crucial approach for analyzing language in depth so as to reveal certain tendencies within political discourse (Janks, 1997 ). CDA is not the same as other types of discourse analysis. That is why it is said to be “critical.” According to Cameron ( 2001 ), “critical refers to a way of understanding the social world drawn from critical theory” (p. 121). Fairclough ( 1995 ) also says, “Critical implies showing connections and causes which are hidden; it also implies intervention, for example, providing resources for those who may be disadvantaged through change” (p. 9). In short, it can be applied to both talk and text delivered by leaders or politicians who normally have a lot of authority to reveal their hidden agenda (Cameron, 2001 ) and decipher the meaning of the crucial concealed ideas (Fairclough, 1989 ). Therefore, it is a useful technique for analyzing texts like speeches connected with power, conflict, and politics, such as Martin Luther King’s speech (Alfayes, 2009 ). Fairclough concludes that CDA can elucidate the hidden meaning of “I Have a Dream,” the speech that has a strong and profound significance and whose messages concerning black Americans’ poverty and struggle have inspired many people all around the world. The ideological components are enshrined in political speeches since “ideology invests language in various ways at various levels and that ideology is both properties of structures and events” (Fairclough, 1995 , p. 71). Thus, meanings are produced through attainable interpretations of the target speech.

CDA has obtained wide prominence in analyzing language usage beyond word and sentence levels (Almahasees & Mahmoud, 2022 ). CDA, also known as critical language study (Fairclough, 1989 ) or critical linguistics (Fairclough, 1995 ; Chouliaraki & Fairclough, 1999 ), considers language to be a critical component of social and cultural processes (Fairclough, 1992 ; Fairclough, 1995 ; Chouliaraki & Fairclough, 1999 ). The goal of this strategy, according to Fairclough ( 1989 ), is to “contribute to the broad raising of consciousness of exploitative social connections by focusing on language” (p. 4). He also claims that CDA is concerned with studying linkages within language between dominance, discrimination, power, and control (Fairclough, 1992 ; Fairclough, 1995 ) and that the goal of CDA is to link between discourse practice and social practice obvious (Fairclough, 1995 ). The CDA is a type of critical thinking which means, according to Beyer ( 1995 ), “developing reasoned conclusions.” Thus, it might be viewed as a critical perspective and interpretation that focuses on social issues, notably the role of discourse in the production and reproduction of power abuse or dominance (Wodak & Meyer, 2009 ). Furthermore, the ‘Sapir–Whorf hypothesis’ indicates that the goal of critical discourse interpretation is to retrieve the social meanings conveyed in the speech by analyzing language structures considering their interactive and larger social contexts (Fairclough, 1992 ; Kriyantono, 2019 ; Lauwren, 2020 ).

Political communication is generally classified as a persuasive speech since it aims to influence or convince people that they have made the right choice (Nusartlert, 2017 ). Persuasive discourse is a very powerful tool for getting what is needed or intended. In such a type of discourse, people use communicative strategies to convince or urge specific thoughts, actions, and attitudes. Scheidel defines persuasion as “the activity in which the speaker and the listener are conjoined and in which the speaker consciously attempts to influence the behavior of the listener by transmitting audible, visible and symbolic” ( 1967 , p. 1). Thus, persuasive language is used to fulfill various reasons, among which is convincing people to accept a specific standpoint or idea.

Political speeches are considered eloquent pieces of communication oriented toward persuading the target audience (Haider, 2016 ). Politicians often use many persuasive techniques to express their agendas in refined language in order to convince people of their views on certain issues, gain support from the public, and ultimately achieve the envisioned goals (Fairclough, 1992 ). Leaders who control uncertainty, build allies, and generate supportive resources can easily gain enough leverage to lead. This means that their usage of language aims to put their intended political, economic, and social acts into practice. The inaugural speech is a very political discourse to analyze because it marks the inception of the new presidency, mainly focusing on infusing unity among people. In light of the scarcity of research on this significant speech, this study aims to investigate the main linguistic persuasive strategies used in President Biden’s inauguration speech presented in 2021.

Literature review

Political speeches are a significant genre within the realm of political discourse in which politicians use language intentionally to steer people’s mindsets and emotions in order to achieve a specific outcome. Since politics is mainly based on a constant struggle for power among concerned individuals or parties, persuasive techniques are crucial elements politicians use to manipulate others or make them accept their entrenched ideas and plans. Persuasion involves using rhetoric to convince the target audience to embrace certain ideologies, adopt specific attitudes, and control their behavior toward a particular issue (Van Dijk, 2015 ). The inaugural speeches are quite diplomatic and rhetorical, as they constitute a golden chance for the leaders to assert their leadership style. Thus, they are open to different types of interpretations and form a copious source of data for politicians and linguists. The linguistic choices politicians make are rational because of the underlying ideologies that determine the way their speeches should be structured. Considering this idea, it is vital to study the rhetoric of the American presidential inaugural speech since it was presented at a time full of critical political events and scenarios by a very influential political figure in the world, marking the inception of a new phase in the lives of Americans and the world. The significance of studying such a piece of discourse lies in the messages that the new president seeks to deliver to the American nation and the world at large.

Biden’s speeches have attracted researchers’ attention. For example, Renaldo & Arifin ( 2021 ) examined Biden’s ideology evident in his inaugural speech. The analysis of the data revealed three types of presuppositions manifested in his speech, i.e., lexical, existential, and factive, where lexical presupposition is the most frequent one. The underlying ideology was demonstrated in issues regarding immigrants, healthcare, racism, democracy, and climate change.

Prasetio and Prawesti ( 2021 ) analyzed the underlying meanings based on word counts considering three subcategories: hostility, use of auxiliaries, and noun-pronoun discourse analysis. The results revealed Biden’s hope of helping Americans by overcoming problems, developing many fields, and enhancing different aspects. It was evident that his underlying ideology was liberalism and his cherished values were democracy and unity.

Pramadya and Rahmanhadi ( 2021 ) studied the way Biden employed the rhetoric of political language in his inauguration speech in order to show his plans and political views. Each political message conveyed in his inauguration speech revealed his ideology and power. Sociocultural practices that supported the text were explored to view the inherent reality that gave rise to the discourse.

Amir ( 2021 ) investigated Biden’s persuasive strategies and the covert ideology manifested in his inaugural speech. Numerous components including “the rule of three,” the past references, the biblical examples, etc., were analyzed. The results emphasized the strength of America’s heroic past, which requires that Americans mainly focus on American values of tolerance, unity, and love.

Bani-Khaled and Azzam ( 2021 ) examined the linguistic devices used to convey the theme of unity in President Joe Biden’s Inauguration Speech. The qualitative analysis of this theme showed that the speaker used suitable linguistic features to clarify the concept of unity. It revealed that the tone of the speech appeared confident, reconciliatory, and optimistic. Both religion and history were resorted to as sources of rhetorical and persuasive devices.

The review of the literature shows a bi-directional relationship between language and sociocultural practices. Each one of them exerts an influence on the other. Therefore, CDA explores both the socially shaped and constitutive sides of language usage since language is viewed as “social identity, social relations, and systems of knowledge and belief” (Fairclough, 1993 , p. 134). It shows invisible connections and interventions (Fairclough, 1992 ). Consequently, it is significant to disclose such unobserved meanings and intentions to listeners who may not be aware of them.

Despite the plethora of critical discourse analysis research on political speeches, few studies were conducted on Biden’s inauguration speech. Thus, this study aims to enrich the existing research by complementing the analysis and highlighting some other significant aspects of Biden’s inauguration speech. Therefore, it is expected that this study will enrich critical discourse analysis research by focusing mainly on political speech. It can be a helpful source for teachers studying and teaching languages. They will learn how to properly analyze discourses by following a critical thinking approach to fully comprehend the relationship linking individual parts of discourses and creating meaning. Besides, the study casts light on distinctive features of societies manifested in political speech.

Methodology

The present study analyses President Biden’s inauguration speech (Biden, 2021 ). Data were analyzed in light of the CDA framework: macro-structure (thematic)—intertextually; microstructure in syntax analysis (cohesion); stylistic (lexicon choice to display the speaker’s emphasis); and rhetoric in terms of persuasive function. Fairclough’s discourse analysis approach was adopted to analyze the target speech in terms of text analysis, discursive practices, and social practices. The main token and the frequency of the recurring words were statistically analyzed, whereas the persuasive strategies proposed by Obeng ( 1997 ) were analyzed based on Fairclough’s ( 1992 ) CDA mentioned above.

Results and discussion

In the United States, presidents deliver inaugural speeches after taking the presidential oath of office. Presidents use this occasion to address the public and lay forth their vision and objectives. These speeches can also help to unify the United States, especially after difficult times or conflicts. Millions of people in the United States, as well as millions of people throughout the world, listen to the inaugural speeches to gain a glimpse of the new president’s vision for the world. This speech is particularly intriguing to analyze using the CDA framework in many aspects. Fairclough ( 1992 ) emphasizes that language must be regarded as an instrument of power as well as a tool of communication. Actually, there is a technique for utilizing language that seeks to encourage individuals who are engaged to do particular things.

The analysis of the ideological aspect of Biden’s inaugural speech endeavors to link this speech with certain social processes and to decode his invisible ideology. From the opening lines, it is apparent that Biden’s ideology is based on inclusiveness and a citizen-based position. At the beginning of his speech, he uses the first few minutes of his inaugural speech to thank and address his predecessors and audience as ‘my fellow Americans,’ lumping all sorts of nationalities and ethnicities together as one nation.

Biden then continues to mark a successful and smooth transition of power with an emphasis on a citizen-based attitude. He underlines that the victory belongs not only to him but to all Americans who have spoken up for a better life in the United States, saying “We celebrate the triumph not of a candidate, but of a cause. The cause of democracy. The people, the will of the people has been heard and the will of the people has been heeded.” With this victory, he promised to take his position seriously to unify America as a whole, regardless of its diversity by eliminating discrimination and reuniting the country’s divided territories in order to rebuild fresh faith among Americans. People of all races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, faiths, and origins should be treated equally. There is no difference between red and blue states except for the United States. Through this technique, he tries to accentuate that the whole American system depends on grassroots diplomacy, rather than an exclusive system of presidency. The beginning and the end of his speech successfully emphasize the importance of the oath that he took on himself to serve his nation without bias where he begins with “I have just taken a sacred oath each of those patriots took” and reminds the audience of the holiness of this oath at the end of his speech; as he says “ I close today where I began, with a sacred oath ”.

This section is divided into seven parts. Each of these parts analyses the speech in light of the selected persuasive strategies, which are creativity, indirectness, intertextuality, choice of lexis, coherence, modality, and reference. These strategies were selected among others due to their knock-on effect on explicating the core ideas of the speech.

Creativity is an essential part of any successful political speech. That is because it plays a significant role in structuring the facts the speaker wants to convey in a way that is accessible to the audience. It helps political figures persuade the public of their ideas, initiatives, and agendas. Indeed, Biden’s speech abounds with examples of creativity which in turn shapes the policies and expectations he adopts.

By using the expression “ violence sought to shake the Capitol’s very foundation ”. The speaker alluded with some subtlety and shrewdness to the riots made by a pro-Trump crowd that assaulted the US Capitol on Jan. 6 in an attempt to prevent the formal certification of the Electoral College results. Hundreds of fanatics walked onto the same platform where Biden had taken his oath of office, they offended the democracy and prestige of the place and the US reputation. He left unsaid that they were sent to the Capitol by the previous president, and described them in another part of his speech:

Here we stand, just days after a riotous mob thought they could use violence to silence the will of the people, to stop the work of our democracy, and to drive us from this sacred ground.

Biden won the popular vote by a combined (7) million votes and the Electoral College. The election results were frequently confirmed in courts as being free of fraud. Nevertheless, the rioters who attacked the Capitol claimed differently and never completely admitted these results.

The other thing that stood out was Biden’s emphasis on racism. He highlighted the Declaration of Independence’s goals, as he often does, and depicted them as being at odds with reality:

I know the forces that divide us are deep and they are real. But I also know they are not new. Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we are all created equal and the harsh, ugly reality that racism, nativism, fear, demonization have long torn us apart.

Of all, this isn’t the first time a president has spoken about racism at an inauguration. However, in the backdrop of the (Black Lives Matter) riots and the continued attack on voting rights, Biden’s adoption of that phrase as his own is both strategically and ethically significant. The pursuit of racial justice has previously been mentioned by Biden as a significant government aim. To lend substance to his rhetoric, society will have to take action on criminal justice reform and voting rights.

President Biden also argued that there has been great progress in women’s rights.

Here we stand, where 108 years ago at another inaugural, thousands of protesters tried to block brave women marching for the right to vote. Today we mark the swearing-in of the first woman in American history elected to national office—Vice President Kamala Harris.

In 1913, a huge number of women marched for the right to vote in a massive suffrage parade on the eve of President-elect Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration, but the next day crowds of mostly men poured into the street for the following day’s inauguration, making it almost impossible for the marchers to get through. Many women heard ‘indecent epithets’ and ‘barnyard banter,’ and they were jeered, tripped, groped, and shoved. But now the big difference has been achieved. During his primary campaign, Biden promised to make history with his running mate selection, claiming he would exclusively consider women. He followed through on that commitment by choosing a lawmaker from one of the most ardent supporters of his campaign, black women, as well as the fastest-growing minority group in the country, Asian Americans.

On a related note, the president touched on the issue of racism, xenophobia, nativism, and other forms of intolerance in the United States “ And now, a rise in political extremism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism that we must confront and we will defeat .” He stressed that every human being has inherent dignity and deserves to be treated with fairness. That is why, on his first day in office, he signed an order establishing a whole-government approach to equity and racial justice. Biden’s administration talks of “restoring humanity” to the US immigration system and considering immigrants as valuable community members and employees. At the same time, Biden is signaling that the previous administration’s belligerent attitude toward partners is over, that the US’s image has plummeted to new lows, and that America can once again be trusted to uphold its commitments in a clear attempt to heal the rift in America’s foreign relations and rebuild alliances with the rest of the world.

So here is my message to those beyond our borders: America has been tested and we have come out stronger for it. We will repair our alliances and engage with the world once again.

Indirectness

Politicians avoid being obvious and speak indirectly while discussing politically sensitive issues in order to protect and advance their careers as well as acquire a political and interactional advantage over their political opponents. It’s also possible that the indirectness is driven by courtesy. Evasion, circumlocution, innuendoes, metaphors, and other forms of oblique communication can be used to convey this obliqueness. Indirectness is closely connected with politeness as it serves politicians’ agendas by spreading awful stories about their opponents (Van Dijk, 2011 ).

Many presidents have been more inclined to draw comparisons between their policies and those of their predecessors. Therefore, Biden was so adamant about avoiding focusing on the previous president that he didn’t criticize or blame the Trump administration’s shortcomings on the epidemic or anything else. In other words, he does not want to offend Republicans, Trump’s party. When Biden was talking about the attack on the US Capitol by the supporters of Trump, he didn’t mention that Trump had sent them. He talked about the lies of Trump and his followers without naming them, but the idea was clear.

There is truth and there are lies. Lies told for power and for profit” he declared. “Each of us has a duty and responsibility, as citizens, as Americans, and especially as leaders—leaders who have pledged to honor our Constitution and protect our nation—to defend the truth and to defeat the lies.

Of course, such lies were spread not merely by Trump and his horde, but also by the majority of Republicans in Congress, who relentlessly promoted the myth that Trump had won the election. One of the most striking aspects of Biden’s speech is this: while appealing for unity, he admitted that some of his opponents aren’t on the same page as him and that their influence has to be addressed. Biden didn’t use his speech to criticize those who believe his victory was skewed, but he appeared to acknowledge that his plan would be tough to implement without tackling the spread of lies. It was an interesting choice for a man who promotes compromise.

Biden’s speech is enriched with numerous conceptual metaphors and metonymies stemming from various domains. Metaphor is perceived as an effective pervasive technique used frequently in our daily communication (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980 ; Van Dijk, 2006 ). It helps the addressees understand and experience one thing in terms of another. It is closely related to cognition as it affects people’s reasoning and giving opinions and judgments (Thibodeau and Boroditsky, 2011 ). For example, Biden used the metaphor ‘Lower the temperature’ to lessen the tension and chaos caused in the previous presidential period. In another example, he utilized ‘ Politics need not be a raging fire ’ to portray politics as something dangerous and might destroy others.

Biden presents examples of metonymy when he portrays periods of troubles, setbacks, and difficult times as dark winter ‘We will need all our strength to persevere through this dark winter’ to emphasize the gloomy days Americans experience in times of crises and wars. The representation of the concept of ‘unity as the path forward’ implicitly alludes to Biden’s path for the previously created divided America, emphasizing the significance of following and securing the necessary solution, which is unity as the path for moving forward. The depiction of crises facing Americans such as ‘ Anger, resentment, hatred. Extremism, lawlessness, violence, Disease, joblessness, hopelessness’ as foes, make people feel the urgent need to unite in order to combat these foes. The expression of ‘ ugly reality ’ reflects an atrocious world full of problems such as racism, nativism, fear, and demonetization . Integrating such conceptual metaphors and metonymy is conventional and deeply rooted and can lead to promoting ideologies by presenting critical political issues in a specific way (Charteris-Black, 2018 ). They make the speech more persuasive as they facilitate people’s understanding of abstract and intricate ideas through using concrete experienceable objects (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980 ). In other words, they perfectly and politely portray serious issues confronting Americans as well as the course of action required to overcome them. Democracy is depicted as both a precious and fragile object. This metonymy makes people appreciate the value of democracy and encourages them to cherish and protect it. Biden declares that democracy, which has been torn during the previous period, has triumphed over threats. Using this metonymy succeeded in connecting logos with pathos, which is one of the goals of using metaphors in political speeches (Mio, 1997 ).

The metonymy of America as a symbol of good things ‘ An American story of decency and dignity. Of love and of healing. Of greatness and of goodness ’ is deliberately created to represent America as an honest and good country. Through this metaphor, Biden appeals not only to the emotions of all people but also to their minds to persuade them that America has been a source of goodness. This finding supports the researchers’ outcomes (Van Dijk, 2006 ; Charteris-Black, 2011 ; Boussaid, 2022 ) that figurative language reveals how important issues are framed in order to advocate specific ideologies by appealing to people’s emotions. Hence, it is a crucial persuasive technique used in political speeches. This implies that Biden is aware of the significance of metaphor as a persuasive rhetoric component.

Intertextuality

Intertextuality has been defined as “the presence of a text in another text” (Genette, 1983 ). Fairclough claims that all texts are intertextual by their very nature and that they are thus constituents of other texts (Fairclough, 1992 ). It is an indispensable strategic feature politicians employ in their speeches to enhance the strength of the speech and reinforce religious, sociocultural, and historical contexts (Kitaeva & Ozerova, 2019 ). Antecedent texts and names are significant components of rhetoric in politics, especially in presidential speeches, because any leader of a country must follow historical, state, moral, and ethical traditions and conventions; referring to precedent texts is one way to get familiar with them. This linguistic phenomenon is necessary for reaching an accurate interpretation of the text, conveying the intended message (Kitaeva & Ozerova, 2019 ), and increasing the credibility of the text, thus getting the audience’s attention to believe in the speaker’s words (Obeng, 1997 ).

Presidents and political intellectuals in the United States have made plenty of statements that will be remembered for years to come. These previous utterances have been unchangeably repeated by other presidents of the USA in different situations throughout American history and are familiar to all Americans. Presidents of the United States frequently quote their predecessors. Former US presidents are frequently mentioned in the corpus of intertextual instances. The oath taken by all presidents—a set rhetorical act of speech—contains a lot of intertextuality. On a macro-structure level, the speaker utilizes intertextuality to give the general theme an appearance by recalling ‘old’ information. Biden quoted Psalm 30:5: “ Weeping may endure for the night, but joy cometh in the morning .” It is a verse that has great resonance for him, given the loss of his wife and daughter in a car accident and his adult son Beau to cancer. On this occasion, he links it to the suffering, with more than 400,000 Americans having died from COVID-19. This biblical and religious type of intertextuality implies that Biden links people’s intimate connection to God with their social and ethical responsibilities.

Another example is when Biden refers to a saying of President Abraham Lincoln in 1863: “ If my name ever goes down into history, it will be for this act and my whole soul is in it .” Although he leads at a completely different time, much like President Lincoln, Biden is grappling with the challenge of a deeply divided country. Deep political schisms have existed in the United States for a long time, but tensions seem to have been exacerbated lately. These nods to Lincoln bring an element of familiarity back to US politics and, potentially, a sense of return to stability after years of turbulence. The president has also quoted a part of the American Anthem Lyrics. He has recited a few lines of the song that highlight his values of hard work, religious faith, and concern for the nation’s future.

The work and prayers of century have brought us to this day. What shall be our legacy? What will our children say… Let me know in my heart When my days are through America, America I gave my best to you.

Choice of lexis

This choice of lexis may have an impact on the way the listeners think and believe what the speaker says. As Aman ( 2005 ) argues, the use of certain words shows the seriousness of the speech to convince people. Regarding this choice of vocabulary, Denham and Roy ( 2005 ) argue that “the vocabulary provides valuable insight into those words which surround or support a concept” (p. 188).

When you review the entire speech of President Biden, one key theme stands out above all others: Democracy. This was reiterated early in his speech and was repeated several times throughout. He has picked the most under-assaulted ideal: ‘democracy’. This word was used (11) times “We’ve learned again that democracy is precious. Democracy is fragile. And at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed,” Biden remarked. This would be evident in another period, but after the 2020 election and the attempt to reverse it, the concept is profound.

The president made lots of appeals to unity in his inaugural speech and ignored the partisan conflicts to achieve the supreme goal of enhancing cooperation between all to serve their country. He repeated the words ‘unity’ and ‘uniting’ (11) times.

And we must meet this moment as the United States of America. If we do that, I guarantee you, we will not fail. We have never, ever, ever, failed in America when we have acted together.

This was Biden’s most forceful call for unity. It would be difficult to achieve, however, not just because of the Trump-supporting Republican Party, but also because of the historically close balance of power in the House and Senate.

Biden’s pledge to bridge the divide on policy and earn the support of those who did not support him, rather than seeing them primarily as political opponents, was a mainstay of his campaign, and it was a major theme of his acceptance speech. “ I will be a president for all Americans .” He also tried to play down the dispute between the two parties (Republican and Democratic) “ We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal .” This is evident by addressing his opponents from the Republican Party.

To all of those who did not support us, let me say this:Hear me out as we move forward. Take a measure of me and my heart. And if you still disagree, so be it That’s democracy.That’s America. The right to dissent peaceably, within the guardrails of our Republic, is perhaps our nation’s greatest strength. Yet hear me clearly: Disagreement must not lead to disunion. And I pledge this to you: I will be a President for all Americans. I will fight as hard for those who did not support me as for those who did.

The use of idiomatic expressions is also evident in the speech; Biden says ‘If we’re willing to stand in the other person’s shoes just for a moment’ when talking about overcoming fear about America’s future through unity. This expression encourages the addresses to empathize with the speakers’ circumstances before passing any judgment.

The analysis of syntax helps the addressees sense more specifically cohesion. Within a text or phrase, cohesion is a grammatical and lexical connection that keeps the text together and provides its meaning. Halliday, Hasan ( 1976 ) state that “a good discourse has to take attention in relation between sentences and keep relevance and harmony between sentences. Discourse is a linguistic unit that is bigger than a sentence. A context in discourse is divided into two types; first is cohesion (grammatical context) and second is coherence (lexical context)”.

This was shown with the most frequent form of cohesion for the grammatical section, which is the reference with 140 pieces of evidence. Biden employed a variety of conjunctions in his speech to make it easier for his audience to understand his oration, such as “and” (97) times, “but” (16) times, and “so” (8) times.

The analysis also shows that Biden has used various examples of cohesive lexical devices, repetitions, synonyms, and contrast in order to accomplish particular ends such as emphasis, inter-connectivity, and appealing for public acceptance and support. All of these devices contribute to the accurate interpretation of the discourse. It is evident that Biden used contrast/juxtaposition as in:

‘There is truth and there are lies’; ‘Not to meet yesterday’s challenges, but today’s and tomorrow’s’; ‘Not of personal interest, but of the public good’; ‘Of unity, not division’; ‘Of light, not darkness’; ‘through storm and strife, in peace and in war’, ‘We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal’. ‘open our souls instead of hardening our hearts’; ‘ we shall write an American story of hope’ .

The use of juxtaposition makes the scene vivid and enhances the listener’s flexible thinking meta-cognition by focusing on important details drawing conclusions and reaching an accurate interpretation of communication.

The use of synonyms such as ‘ heeded-heard; indivisible-one nation; battle-war; victory-triumph; manipulated-manufactured; great nation-our nation-the country; repair-restore-heal-build; challenging-difficult; bringing America together-uniting our nation; fight-combat; anger-resentment-hatred; extremism-lawlessness-violence-terrorism ’ is evident in Biden’s speech. This type of figurative language helps in building cohesion in the speech, formulating and clarifying thoughts and ideas, emphasizing and asserting certain notions, and expressing emotions and feelings. The results are in line with other researchers’ (Lee, 2017 ; Bader & Badarneh, 2018 ) finding that political speeches are emotive; politicians can express feelings and attitudes toward certain issues. Lexical cohesion has also been established through repetition. The most repeated words and phrases in Biden’s speech are democracy, nation, unity, people, racial justice, and America. The repetitive usage of these concepts highlights them as the main basic themes of his speech.

The speaker employed deontic and epistemic modality, which implies that he has used every obligation, permission, and probability or possibility in the speech to exhibit his power by displaying commands, truth claims, and announcements. The speaker’s ideology can be revealed by the modality of permission, obligation, and possibility.

The usage of medium certainty “will” is the highest in numbers (30) times, but the use of low certainty “can” (16) times, “may” (5) times, and high certainty “must” (10) times was noticeably present. The usage of medium certainty is mainly represented by the usage of “will” to introduce future policies and present goals and visions. In critical linguistics terms, the use of low modality in a presidential address may reflect a lack of confidence in the abilities or possibilities of achieving a goal or a vision. That is, the usage of low modality gives more space to the “actor” to achieve the “goal”. For example, the usage of “can” in “ we can overcome this deadly virus ” and “ we can deliver social justice ” does not reflect strong belief, confidence, and assurance from the actor’s side to achieve the goals (social justice, overcoming the deadly virus). The usage of modal verbs in Biden’s speech reflects a balanced personality.

In modality, by using “will”, the speaker tries to convince the audience by giving a promise, and he may hope that what he says will be followed up. By using “can”, the speaker is expressing his ability. In cohesion, it is well organized, which means the speaker tries to make his speech easier to follow by everyone by using “additive conjunctions” or “transition phrases” that have the function of “listing in order”. Lastly, the generic structure of the speech is well structured.

The use of pronouns in political speeches reveals rich information about references to self, others, and identity, agency (Van Dijk, 1993 ). Biden has used the first and second pronouns meticulously to express his vision. The most frequent pronoun Biden has used is ‘we’ with a frequency of (89) which helps him establish trust and credibility in the speech, and a close relationship between him and his audience. This frequency implies that they are one united nation. Whereas he has used the pronoun ‘ I ’ with a frequency of (32). Using these types of pronouns allows the speaker to convey his ideas directly to his audience and make his intended message comprehensible. This balanced usage of pronouns reflects Fairclough’s ( 1992 ) notion of discourse as a social practice rather than a linguistic practice. The analysis demonstrates that the most prominent themes emphasized by Biden are ‘democracy and unity’. These themes have also been accentuated by the overall dominance of the pronoun “we,” which reflects Biden’s perception of America as a good society that needs to be united to successfully go through difficult times. Such notions represent his policies.

Political speech is functional and directive in its very nature. Thus, the language of politics in inaugural speeches is a significant and unique event since it affects people’s minds and hearts concerning certain pressing issues. It is a powerful tool that newly elected political leaders use to promote their new leadership ideas and strategic plans in order to convince people and attract their support. The analysis of the speech reveals that Biden’s language is easy and understandable. Biden employed a variety of rhetorical features to express his ideology. These figurative devices and techniques include creativity, indirectness, intertextuality, metaphor, repetition, cohesion, reference, and synonymy to achieve his political ideologies; assuring Americans and the world of his good intentions towards uniting Americans and working collaboratively with other nations to persevere through difficult times.

The overall themes expressed in this speech are the timeless values of unity and democracy. They are the cornerstones and key ideological components of Biden’s speech. This value-based orientation indicates their paramount recurrent semantic-cognitive features. The construction of the meaning of such values lies in the sociocultural and political context of the USA and the whole world in general and America in particular. Biden’s speech includes certain ideals, like "unity" to work together for the nation’s development, "democracy" to exhibit the "democracy" that has recently been assaulted, "equality" to treat all American people equally, and "freedom" to let individuals do whatever they want. Such themes are essential, especially in times of the worst crisis of COVID-19 encountering the world since they help him reassure his nation and the world of some improvements and promise them progress and prosperity in the years to come. To sum up, the results showed that the speaker used appropriate language in addressing the theme of unity. The speaker used religion and history as a source of rhetorical persuasive devices. The overall tone of the speech was confident, reconciliatory, and hopeful. We can say that language is central to meaningful political discourse. So, the relationship between language and politics is a very significant one.

The study examined the main linguistic strategies used in President Biden’s inauguration speech presented in 2021. The analysis has revealed that Biden in this speech intends to show his feelings (attitudes), his goals (reviewing the US administration), and his power to take over the US presidential office. It has also disclosed Biden’s ideological standpoint that is based on the central values of democracy, tolerance, and unity. Biden’s speech includes certain ideals, like "unity" to work together for the nation’s development, "democracy" to exhibit the "democracy" that has recently been assaulted, "equality" to treat all American people equally, and "freedom" to let individuals do whatever they want. To convey the intended ideological political stance, Biden used certain persuasive strategies including creativity, metaphor, contrast, indirectness, reference, and intertextuality for addressing critical issues. Creative expressions were drawn, highlighting and magnifying significant real issues concerning unity, democracy, and racial justice. Intertextuality was employed by resorting to an extract from one of the American presidents in order to convince Americans and the international community of his ideas, vision, and policy. It appeared that indirect expressions were also used for discussing politically sensitive issues in order to acquire a political and interactional advantage over his political opponents. His referencing style shows his interest in others and their unity. The choice of these strategies may have an influence on how the listeners think and believe about what the speaker says. Significant ideologies encompassing unity, equality, and freedom for US citizens were stated implicitly and explicitly. The study concluded that the effective use of linguistic and rhetorical devices is recommended to construct meaning in the world, be persuasive, and convey the intended vision and underlying ideologies.

The study suggests some implications for pedagogy and academic research. Researchers, linguists, and students interested in discourse analysis may find the data useful. The study demonstrates a sort of connection between political scientists, linguistics, and discourse analysts by clarifying distinct issues using different ideas and discourse analysis approaches. It has important ramifications for the efficient use of language to advance certain moral principles such as freedom, equality, and unity. It unravels that studying how language is used in a certain context allows people to disclose or analyze more about how things are said or done, or how they might exist in different ways in other contexts. It also shows that studying political language is crucial because it helps language users understand how a language is used by those who want power, seek to exercise it and maintain it to gain public attention, influence people’s attitudes or behaviors, provide information that people are unaware of, explain one’s attitudes or behavior, or persuade people to take certain actions. Getting students engaged in CDA research such as the current study would help them be more adept at navigating and using rhetorical devices and CDA tactics, as well as considering the underlying ideologies that underlie any written piece. Based on the analysis, it is recommended that more research studies be conducted on persuasive strategies in other political speeches.

Data availability

All data analyzed in this study are included in this published article. They are available at this link: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/01/20/inaugural-address-by-president-joseph-r-biden-jr/ .

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Al-Khawaldeh, N.N., Rababah, L.M., Khawaldeh, A.F. et al. The art of rhetoric: persuasive strategies in Biden’s inauguration speech: a critical discourse analysis. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 10 , 936 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02450-y

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Persuasive messaging to increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake intentions

Affiliations.

1 Yale Institute for Global Health, New Haven, CT, USA; Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
2 Institution for Social and Policy Studies, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA; Center for the Study of American Politics, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
3 Institution for Social and Policy Studies, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA; Center for the Study of American Politics, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA; Department of Political Science, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
4 Yale Institute for Global Health, New Haven, CT, USA; Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA; Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA; Yale School of Nursing, West Haven, CT, USA.
5 Institution for Social and Policy Studies, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA; Center for the Study of American Politics, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA; Department of Political Science, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
PMID: 34774363
PMCID: PMC8531257
DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2021.10.039

Widespread vaccination remains the best option for controlling the spread of COVID-19 and ending the pandemic. Despite the considerable disruption the virus has caused to people's lives, many people are still hesitant to receive a vaccine. Without high rates of uptake, however, the pandemic is likely to be prolonged. Here we use two survey experiments to study how persuasive messaging affects COVID-19 vaccine uptake intentions. In the first experiment, we test a large number of treatment messages. One subgroup of messages draws on the idea that mass vaccination is a collective action problem and highlighting the prosocial benefit of vaccination or the reputational costs that one might incur if one chooses not to vaccinate. Another subgroup of messages built on contemporary concerns about the pandemic, like issues of restricting personal freedom or economic security. We find that persuasive messaging that invokes prosocial vaccination and social image concerns is effective at increasing intended uptake and also the willingness to persuade others and judgments of non-vaccinators. We replicate this result on a nationally representative sample of Americans and observe that prosocial messaging is robust across subgroups, including those who are most hesitant about vaccines generally. The experiments demonstrate how persuasive messaging can induce individuals to be more likely to vaccinate and also create spillover effects to persuade others to do so as well. The first experiment in this study was registered at clinicaltrials.gov and can be found under the ID number NCT04460703 . This study was registered at Open Science Framework (OSF) at: https://osf.io/qu8nb/?view_only=82f06ecad77f4e54b02e8581a65047d7.

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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
COVID-19 Vaccines*
United States
Vaccination
COVID-19 Vaccines

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ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT04460703

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UL1 TR001863/TR/NCATS NIH HHS/United States

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

The effect of persuasive messages in promoting home-based physical activity during covid-19 pandemic.

$\nValentina Carfora &#x;$

Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy

We tested the plausibility of a persuasion model to understand the effects of messages framed in terms of gain, non-loss, loss, and non-gain, and related to the physical, mental and social consequences of doing physical activity at home during the lockdown restrictions. 272 Italian participants responded to a questionnaire on their attitude and intention at Time 1, frequency of past behavior, and self-efficacy related to exercising at home. Then, participants were randomly assigned to four different message conditions: (a) gain messages focused on the positive outcomes associated with doing physical activity at home; (b) non-loss messages focused on the avoided negative outcomes associated with doing physical activity at home; (d) loss messages focused on the negative outcomes associated with not doing physical activity at home; (c) non-gain messages focused on the missed positive outcomes associated with not doing physical activity at home. After reading the messages, participants answered a series of questions regarding their perception of threat and fear, their evaluation of the messages, and their attitude and intention toward exercising at home at Time 2. Using multigroup structural equation modeling, we compared message conditions, and tested whether the effects of the messages on attitude and intention at Time 2 were mediated by message-induced threat, message-induced fear, and message evaluation. Results showed that the perception of the messages as not threatening was the key point to activate a positive evaluation of the recommendation. The highest persuasive effect was observed in the case of the non-loss frame, which did not threaten the receivers, triggered a moderated fear and, in turn, activated a positive evaluation of the recommendation, as well as higher attitude and intention to do home-based physical activity at Time 2. Overall, these results advance our comprehension of the effects of message framing on receivers' attitudes and intentions toward home-based physical activity.

Introduction

The Coronavirus (Covid-19) appeared in December 2019 in China (Wuhan) and the infection rapidly spread throughout the world. Three months later, Covid-19 became a worldwide pandemic with more than 1,728,878 cases confirmed on December 07th, 2020 and 60,078 deaths in Italy ( Coronavirus Statistiques, 2020 ). At the beginning of the pandemic, Italy was one of the most seriously affected countries and, on March 08th, 2020, the Italian Government implemented extraordinary measures to limit viral transmission, including social and physical distancing measures, lockdown of industry, school, and overall social life. Although these measures have proven to be the best option to reduce the rapid spread of infections, this has produced collateral effects on other dimensions, determining a radical change in the lifestyle of the Italian population ( Cancello et al., 2020 ; Cavallo et al., 2020 ; Odone et al., 2020 ).

Requiring a large-scale behavior change, the COVID-19 pandemic has raised the importance to apply the insights from psycho-social and behavioral sciences to promote people's adherence to the recommendations of epidemiologists and public health experts. In particular, this event has highlighted the relevance of the use of persuasive communication to educate people around preventive health behaviors. Evidence for the effectiveness of persuasive messages to promote health behaviors has been built over the last decades (e.g., Gallagher and Updegraff, 2012 ), but it has also received confirmation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many scholars have shown that persuasive messages can facilitate policy-makers to promote prevention behaviors during a global public health crisis, and have confirmed the importance of finding efficient messages, as an easy and potentially scalable public intervention (e.g., Bilancini et al., 2020 ; Capraro and Barcelo, 2020 ; Heffner et al., 2020 ; Jordan et al., 2020 ; Lunn et al., 2020 ; Søraa et al., 2020 ). However, there do not seem to be any studies specifying how to formulate persuasive messages to promote home-based physical activity during the lockdown, even if one of the major changes regarded a reduction in the level of physical activity and sport, due to the closure of gyms, stadiums, pools, dance and fitness studios, physiotherapy centers, parks, and playgrounds ( Serafini et al., 2020 ).

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many health communication practitioners designed persuasive messages to reduce the negative effects of the imposed restrictions on physical and mental health, such as the unhealthy consequences of sedentary behavior. For this reason, the evaluation of how persuasive messages impact on people' behavior appears as more necessary than ever. Even if health communication campaigns are often effective at changing individuals' behaviors ( Anker et al., 2016 ), in some cases they can also have a “boomerang effect” that results in receivers adopting behaviors opposite to the health recommendation ( Byrne and Hart, 2009 ). This counterproductive effect may be generated when receivers perceive health messages as too fearful or threatening.

To overcome this possible counterproductive effect of health communication, in the present study we aimed at clarifying the role of threat and fear induced by messages promoting home-based physical activity during the COVID-19 outbreak. We specifically tested whether differently framed messages can differently involve receivers both cognitively and emotionally, thus influencing their attitude and intention toward home-based physical activity. Generally, health guidelines recommend that all adults should engage in at least 150–300 min a week of moderate-intensity exercise ( Piercy et al., 2018 ) and this recommendation was even more valid during the quarantine for at least two reasons. First, regular exercise may reduce the risk of acute respiratory distress syndrome, a major cause of death in patients COVID-19 ( University of Virginia Health System, 2020 ). Second, regular exercise is associated with emotional resilience to stress ( Childs and de Wit, 2014 ), one of the positive psychological responses observed during times of pandemics ( Taylor et al., 2020 ). However, physical activity guidelines alone are unlikely to increase physical activity levels of the population ( Milton et al., 2020 ). Appropriate and effective communication is key to maximizing the impact of such guidelines. In the present study, we tested whether differently framed messages can differently involve receivers both cognitively and emotionally, influencing their attitude and intention toward indoor home-based physical activity.

Message Framing

Under given conditions, persuasive messages stimulate attitude change, and consequent change in intention and behavior regarding physical activity (e.g., Ajzen, 1991 ; Eagly and Chaiken, 1993 ; Petty and Cacioppo, 2012 ; Petty and Briñol, 2015 ). Research has shown that the persuasive effect depends, at least in part, on how message recommendations are framed ( Davis, 1995 ; Chong and Druckman, 2007 ; Spence and Pidgeon, 2010 ). For example, recommendation messages can differ as to their valence frame, that is, their stress on either the positive or the negative consequences of a given behavior (e.g., Rothman et al., 2006 ). While a positively framed message presents the positive outcomes associated with the implementation of the recommended behavior, a negatively framed message presents the negative outcomes associated with not performing the recommended behavior.

Existing evidence suggests that positively framed messages regarding various outcomes of physical activity are more effective than negatively framed messages (e.g., Jones et al., 2003 ; Kozak et al., 2013 ; for a review: Williamson et al., 2020 ). For example, found that gain-framed messages were more effective in increasing participants' action planning regarding physical activity. Similarly, van't Riet et al. (2010) showed that gain-framed messages were more persuasive than loss-framed messages in advocating physical activity.

Messages can be framed not only as regards their gain or loss valence, but also as regards a further level of framing, namely, the outcome sensitivities level of message framing ( Cesario et al., 2013 ). According to this framing level, gain-framed messages can be further diversified in messages focused on actual gain , when they describe the presence of positive outcomes (e.g., ≪If you eat well, you will improve your health≫), and messages focused on non-loss , when they focus on the absence of negative outcomes (e.g., ≪If you eat well, you will avoid damaging your health≫). Likewise, loss-framed messages can be further diversified in messages focused on actual loss , when they emphasize the presence of negative outcomes (e.g., ≪If you eat badly, you will damage your health≫) and messages focused on non-gain , when they focus on the absence of positive outcomes (e.g., ≪If you eat badly, you will miss the opportunity to improve your health≫).

The different effects of gain, non-loss, non-gain and loss messages have been studied in communication advocating different types of healthy behavior (e.g., Dijkstra et al., 2011 ; Carfora et al., 2020 ). For example, Carfora et al. (2021) considered the aforementioned four types of messages to promote healthy eating and showed that they induce different message evaluations, which in turn influences attitude and intention, via a cognitive or emotional elaboration. Besides, Carfora et al. (2020) showed that gain and non-loss messages activate an integrated emotional and cognitive processing of the health recommendation, while loss and non-gain messages mainly activate emotional shortcuts toward attitude and intention. Finally, the differential influence of these four message frames on attitude and intention has been shown to vary according to some baseline psychosocial features, such as self-efficacy (e.g., Di Massimo et al., 2019 ; Carfora et al., 2020 ).

To the best of our knowledge, so far research on the promotion of physical activity has ignored the distinction among gain, non-loss, non-gain, and loss message framing. For example, Strachan et al. (2020) compared the effects of gain- and loss-framed messages to promote physical activity, including non-loss outcomes in the gain-framed messages (e.g., reduced risk of diseases, less anxiety) and non-gain outcomes in the loss-framed messages (e.g., decreased attractiveness through reduced muscle tone). To move further in the comprehension of the factors that may underly the different effectiveness of the four types of messages, in the present study we submitted these messages to different groups of participants and explored the reactions receivers have when they are exposed to these messages. We aimed to assess the cognitive and emotional mechanisms underlying message influence on attitude and intention toward increased home-based physical activity, as well as possible differences in the role played by these mechanisms according to the message type. Below, the cognitive and emotional mechanisms investigated in the study are discussed in detail.

Message-Induced Threat

The basic premise of persuasion models is that attitude and intention changes depend upon the likelihood that a persuasive issue or argument will be positively evaluated by the receiver ( Petty and Cacioppo, 1986 ; Eagly and Chaiken, 1993 ). Message evaluation has a direct effect on receivers' attitude and intention toward the behavior recommended in the message (e.g., Cauberghe et al., 2009 ; Fernando et al., 2016 ), and this effect has been demonstrated also when the recommended behavior regards physical activity ( Jones et al., 2003 ). In the present study, we moved from the assumption that the effect of message framing on attitude and intention would at least partially depend on how differently framed messages would be evaluated.

One of the aspects influencing the evaluation of a health recommendation message is the extent to which receivers perceive the message as threatening. According to psychological reactance theory, when individuals feel that someone or something is pressuring them to accept a certain view or attitude that limit their freedom, they activate psychological reactance to restore the lost freedom ( Brehm and Brehm, 1981 ). Since recommendation messages in health communication aim to shape, reinforce, or change attitudes and behaviors, this attempt can be therefore perceived as a threat to freedom ( Shen, 2015 ). As regards physical activity, receivers may perceive a message recommending it as threatening. Thus, they may not process it accurately and instead respond defensively ( Liberman and Chaiken, 1992 ), for example downplaying its recommendation ( Falk et al., 2015 ; Howe and Krosnick, 2017 ). According to self-affirmation theory ( Steele, 1988 ; Sherman and Cohen, 2006 ), people may react defensively to threatening messages because they seek to maintain self-integrity, i.e., a perception of being capable of controlling important outcomes. When self-integrity is threatened, people seek to protect or restore it, often rejecting or denigrating threatening information ( Cohen and Sherman, 2014 ). Thus, exposure to physical activity messages may threaten the self-integrity of individuals ( McQueen and Klein, 2006 ; Jessop et al., 2014 ). In this threatened state, the ability to process a message recommending increased physical activity may be compromised because people, in order to maintain self-integrity, may question or reject the validity of the recommendation, or direct attention away from it ( Sherman, 2013 ; Strachan et al., 2020 ). However, so far, no research has analyzed how perceived threat after exposure to differently framed messages recommending physical activity may negatively influence receivers' attitudes and intentions.

Message-Induced Fear

Receivers' processing and evaluation of health recommendation messages is also influenced by affective responses triggered by messages themselves (e.g., Gross and D'ambrosio, 2004 ; Dillard and Nabi, 2006 ; Peters et al., 2006 ; Kühne et al., 2015 ). This is also the case when the recommendation message regards physical activity ( Michalovic et al., 2018 ), and fear is one of the emotions that is more likely to influence the evaluation and the effect of a health recommendation message. There is overwhelming evidence of a positive fear–persuasion relationship (e.g., King and Reid, 1990 ; LaTour and Rotfeld, 1997 ; Dillard and Anderson, 2004 ). Messages evoking fear lead people to rely on systematic processing, which in turn stimulates many issue-relevant thoughts, and thus a positive message evaluation (e.g., Meijnders et al., 2001 ; Slater et al., 2002 ; Meyers-Levy and Maheswaran, 2004 ). Consistently, a long history of research has led to the general conclusion that messages inducing fear are more effective than those that do not (for a meta-analysis, see De Hoog et al., 2007 ), and the investigated effects include attitude and intention change toward a variety of health-related behaviors (for a meta-analysis, see Tannenbaum et al., 2015 ). Once said that, some research has also shown that messages inducing fear can be counterproductive. Fear can induce people to enact defensive strategies to reduce the potential emotional distress associated with the message. These strategies can include directing attention away from the message, reinterpreting or disregarding it ( Witte, 1992 ; Ruiter et al., 2001 ). In the case of differently framed messages recommending increased physical activity, the different frames are likely to trigger different levels of fear in the receivers. However, we lack empirical evidence of whether and how far this is the case, as well as of related effects on attitude and intention.

Starting from the above, in the present study we examined whether and how far physical activity recommendations framed as gain, non-loss, non-gain, or loss (i.e., varying according to the outcome sensitivities level of message framing) would be perceived as threatening or induce fear. We also examined whether perceived threat or fear would have an impact on message evaluation toward home-based physical activity. Self-efficacy, frequency of past behavior and habit to exercise regularly have found to be some of the main predictors of physical activity, in general and also during the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic ( Carriedo et al., 2020 ; Rhodes et al., 2020 ), in addition to attitude and intention ( Kaushal and Srivastava, 2020 ). Consistently, in the present research we tested the effects of differently framed messages not only on message evaluation, but also on attitude and intention toward home-based physical activity. Finally, we controlled for the independent effects of self-efficacy and frequency of past behavior regarding physical activity before the pandemic.

The Present Study

Based on the above literature on the influence of perceived threat and fear on the evaluation of recommendation messages, in the present study we proposed and tested a theoretical model to understand receivers' reactions to gain, non-loss, non-gain and loss messages focused on home-based physical activity. We first measured attitude and intention We examined whether perceived threat or fear would have an impact on message evaluation, and thus would influence attitude and intention toward home-based physical activity at Time 2 differently, in the case of a recommendation framed as gain, non-loss, non-gain or loss .

Given that literature on threat and fear triggered by the four different message frames is scarce, we did not make specific hypotheses about the various relationships among the study variables, but only a series of research questions.

Research Question 1, RQ1 : To what extent does message-induced threat influence message evaluation, attitude and intention regarding home-based activity at Time 2 in the four different message conditions?

Research Question 2, RQ2 : To what extent does message-induced fear influence message evaluation, attitude and intention regarding home-based activity at Time 2 in the four different message conditions?

Research Question 3, RQ3 : How far attitude and intention at Time 1, frequency of past behavior and self-efficacy influence message evaluation, attitude and intention at Time 2 regarding home-based activity in the four different message conditions?

Procedure and Participants

In April 2020, a sample of Italian citizens was invited to participate in a university study on public communication. Participants were recruited by students of the Department of Psychology of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart (Italy), and received an email with a link to an online survey developed through the Qualtrics platform. Through the online survey, participants:

- completed the first part of a questionnaire measuring the psychological antecedents of home-based physical activity (Time 1);

- were then automatically and randomly assigned to four different conditions (gain, non-loss, non-gain, and loss messages) and were invited to read an infographic reporting a series of messages on the physical and psychological consequences of exercising at home;

- after reading the messages, were required to fill in the second part of the questionnaire (Time 2).

The initial sample was made of N = 280 participants. Participants who did not fully or accurately complete the questionnaire were then excluded ( N = 8). So, the final sample consisted of 272 participants (126 males, 142 females, 4 other; mean age = 42.97, SD = 14.98, age range = 18–70), distributed in the four message conditions as follows: gain message condition N = 70; non-loss message condition N = 67; non-gain message condition N = 67; loss message condition N = 68.

Pre-test Measures

At the beginning of the questionnaire, participants provided their informed consent and read the following statement: “We are interested in understanding what drives people to do physical exercises at home in the absence of alternatives (i.e., in the impossibility of accessing parks, gyms and open spaces). By physical activity at home we mean, for example: bodyweight workout, such as stretching, aerobics, push-ups, and abs; walking for at least 30 min (6,000 steps per day); training with weights and machines, such as stationary bikes and treadmills.” After that, participants responded to a series of questions aimed at measuring their frequency of past behavior, attitude and intention toward home-based physical activity, and self-efficacy.

Frequency of past behavior related to physical activity was measured with 2 items regarding how often participants engaged in physical activity away from home and at home before the lockdown restrictions: “Before this period of restrictions, on average how many times a week did you engage in moderate or intense physical activity outdoor - e.g., fast walking, climbing stairs, cycling, swimming, going to the gym, going for a run etc.?”; “Before this period of restrictions, on average how many times a week did you exercise at home?.” Answers were given on a seven-point Likert scale, from never (1) to every day (7). Higher scores indicated a higher frequency of physical activity before the lockdown restrictions.

Intention at Time 1 toward doing home-based physical activity was assessed with 3 items on a seven-point Likert scale [completely disagree (1) – completely agree (7)] (e.g., “I intend to do physical exercises at home regularly in the next month”; Clark and Bassett, 2014 ). Higher scores indicated a greater intention to exercise at home at Time 1.

Attitude at Time 1 toward home-based physical activity was measured using 5 items on a semantic differential scale ranging from “1” to “7” (e.g., “I believe that doing physical exercises at home regularly is… useless – useful”; Caso et al., 2020 ). Higher values indicated a more positive attitude toward exercising at home at Time 1.

Self-efficacy related to regular physical activity was measured using 6 items on a seven-point Likert scale [completely disagree (1) – completely agree(7)] (e.g., “If I wanted, I would be able to do the physical activity regularly when I am feeling tired”; Bandura, 1977 ). Higher values indicated a more positive self-efficacy toward exercising at home.

Message Intervention

After completing the first questionnaire, all participants were invited to read one infographic including 6 messages (~14 words each) describing the physical, mental and social consequences of doing physical activity at home, and formulated in prefactual terms (i.e., “If only…”; see Carfora et al., 2019 ; Bertolotti et al., 2020 ). Participants read different messages according to the experimental condition to which they had been randomly assigned. Participants in the gain message condition read messages on the positive outcomes associated with doing home-based physical activity (e.g., “If you do physical activity at home, you will improve your fitness.”). Participants in the non-loss message condition read messages informing about how doing home-based physical activity relates to preventing negative outcomes (e.g., “If you do physical activity at home, you will avoid worsening your fitness.”). Participants in the non-gain message condition read messages emphasizing how doing home-based physical activity is related to missing out positive consequences (e.g., “If you do not do physical activity at home, you will lose the chance to improve your fitness.”). Finally, participants in the loss message condition read messages on the negative outcomes of not doing home-based physical activity (e.g., “If you do not do physical activity at home, you will worsen your fitness.”). The full list of messages is reported in Appendix 1 in Supplementary Material .

Post-test Measures

After reading the messages, participants completed the second part of the questionnaire, which measured the dimensions described below.

Message-induced fear was measured with five items pertaining to the degree to which reading messages had made participants feel fearful (e.g., “To what extent reading these messages made you feel scared?”; adapted from Brown and Smith, 2007 ). Answers were given on a 7-point Likert scale, from (1) “not at all” to (7) “completely.” Higher values indicated higher fear after reading the messages.

Message-induced threat was measured with four items related to how much reading messages had made participants feel their freedom threatened (e.g., “The messages have tried to pressure me”; adapted from Shen, 2015 ). Answers were given on a 7-point Likert scale, from (1) “strongly disagree” to (7) “strongly agree.” Higher values indicated higher perceived threat.

Message evaluation was measured with three items asking participants to state how involved they had been in the messages (e.g., “Messages were very interesting”; adapted from Godinho et al., 2016 ). Answers were given on a 7-point Likert scale, from (1) “strongly disagree” to (7) strongly agree.” Higher values indicated a more positive evaluation of the messages.

Finally, we again measured receivers' attitude and intention toward home-based physical activity at Time 2 after message exposure, using the same scale and items used at Time 1.

At the end of the second part of the questionnaire, participants reported their age and gender.

Data Analysis

As a first step of our analysis, we assessed the variance inflation factor (VIF) to compute multicollinearity. The VIF results, which are below threshold value of 5.0, indicate that collinearity issues among the study variables is absent ( Hair et al., 2016 ).

Then, we used confirmatory factor analysis to verify the measurement model. To verify the internal consistency among the measurement items for each variable, we used composite reliability. We also tested convergent and discriminant validities among our variables.

The adequacy of fit of the measurement and structural models were estimated using a chi-square test and recommended incremental goodness-of-fit indices: the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), the comparative fit index (CFI), and the Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI). A nonsignificant chi-square test indicates that the model fits the data well ( Iacobucci, 2010 ). RMSEA value of 0.05 or less indicates a good fit and values up to 0.10 represent errors that approximate those expected in the population ( Iacobucci, 2010 ). Finally, CFI and TLI cut-off values of at least 0.90 are generally considered to represent an acceptable fit ( Iacobucci, 2010 ).

After confirming the adequacy of fit of our structural model, we used it as a base model to test the invariance of the relationship between study variables across groups. We first applied a multi-group Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to observe the relationships among study variables in each group. We then constrained the main significant paths of each group to be equal in the other groups, while we left the other path coefficients free to vary across groups. By disconfirming the equality (or invariance) of the main significant paths, we would be able to establish that the diverse messages read by participants moderated the relationship among the psychological antecedents of home-based physical activity, the reactions to the messages, and attitude and intention regarding home-based physical activity at Time 2. We evaluated the null hypothesis of the equalities of such paths across message groups through a Wald test.

Preliminary Analyses

Table 1 shows means, standard deviations, composite reliability and average variance extracted (AVE) of each study variable, plus standard loadings of each item employed to measure the variable. Table 2 reports the estimates relevant to convergent and discriminant validity.

Table 1 . Results of the confirmatory factor analysis.

Table 2 . Convergent and discriminant validity.

The VIF results for each dependent variable were below threshold value of 5.0 (message-induced threat = 1.00; message-induced fear = 1.03; message evaluation = 1.30; attitude at Time 2 = 2.80; intention at Time 2 = 4.13). This result indicated that collinearity issues among the study variables were absent from this study.

Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the measurement model fit the data satisfactorily ( χ ( 2 ) 2 = 3.58, p = 0.17; RMSEA = 0.05, CFI = 0.99, TLI = 0.97, SRMR = 0.02). Results revealed that all the composite reliability values were greater than the minimum threshold of 0.60 ( Bagozzi and Yi, 1988 ), ranging from 0.76–0.98. Thus, the reliability of the measurement model was confirmed. The standardized item loadings of all observed variables on their corresponding latent constructs varied from 0.68–0.98 ( Table 1 ), except for one of the two items measuring frequency of past behavior. Thus, standardized item loadings were mainly significant. The AVE from latent constructs ranged from 0.61 to 0.96. Therefore, all AVE values were above the recommended threshold of.50 ( Anderson and Gerbing, 1988 ). These findings showed that all measurement items presented a high convergent validity. Discriminant validity was also confirmed, because all AVEs were higher than squared correlations between latent constructs ( Fornell and Larcker, 1981 ). Finally, we confirmed the adequacy of fit of our structural model ( χ ( 524 ) 2 = 1018.51, p = 0.001; RMSEA = 0.03, CFI = 0.94, TLI = 0.94, SRMR = 0.05).

Main Analyses

Multi-group sem model.

In the main analyses, we used the tested model to disconfirm the null hypothesis of the invariance of the relationships among the study variables across groups. We did so by computing a multi-group SEM model with the message groups. The goodness-of-fit statistics for the model were acceptable. The chi-square test was not significant (χ 2 = 13.78, df = 8, p = 0.09) and also the other indices pointed to an acceptable fit ( RMSEA = 0.10; CFI = 0.99; TLI = 0.90; χ 2 gain message group = 3.34; χ 2 loss message group = 7.20; χ 2 non-gain message group = 0.01; χ 2 non-loss message group = 3.22), indicating that dataset had overall a good model fit.

We then analyzed the parameter estimates of the model in the four message conditions (gain, non-loss, non-gain, loss). All parameter estimates are reported in Appendix 3 in Supplementary Material . Below, we will consider the predictors of all dependent variables related to our three main research questions, namely, how message-induced threat predicted message evaluation, attitude and intention (RQ1), how message-induced fear predicted message evaluation, attitude and intention at Time 2 (RQ2), and how the psychological antecedents of home-based activity influenced message evaluation, attitude and intention at Time 2 (RQ3).

As showed in Figure 1 , when participants were exposed to gain messages the perception that the messages were not threatening increased the positive evaluation of the messages (β = −0.25; p = 0.04), as well as the intention to do home-based physical activity at Time 2 (β = −0.17; p = 0.05). Message-induced fear did not predict message evaluation, attitude at Time 2, or intention at Time 2, but a high level of self-efficacy reduced the perception of the gain messages as being fearful (β = −0.24; p = 0.05). Positive attitude at Time 1 had a direct effect on positive attitude at Time 2 (β = 0.88; p = 0.001), and in turn attitude at Time 2 determined a higher intention to exercise at home at Time 2 (β = 0.25; p = 0.05). Actually, the effect of attitude at Time 1 on intention at Time 2 was fully mediated by attitude at Time 2 ( Ind . = 0.2 2; p = 0.05). When participants had higher intention to do physical activity before message exposure they also gave a more positive evaluation of the gain messages (β = −0.22; p = 0.05) and had higher intention at Time 2 (β = 0.81 p = 0.05). To sum up, these results showed that gain messages had an impact on intention at Time 2 mainly because this message frame was not perceived as threatening. Moreover, there was an increase in intention at Time 2 especially when participants had a positive attitude toward home-based physical activity both at Time 1 and Time 2.

Figure 1 . Standardized factor loadings of the relationships among study variables in the gain message group. ** p < 0.05; *** p < 0.001.

In the case of participants exposed to non - loss messages ( Figure 2 ), the perception of the messages as not threatening predicted a positive message evaluation (β = −0.32; p = 0.001), which in turn influenced attitude at Time 2 (β = 0.43; p = 0.001) and then intention at Time 2 (β = 0.30; p = 0.001). Positive message evaluation also had a direct effect on intention at Time 2 (β = 0.30; p = 0.001). Consistently, mediation analyses confirmed that the negative impact of threat on intention at Time 2 was fully mediated by the participants' positive evaluation of the messages ( Ind . = −0.11; p = 0.01) and by the effect of this positive evaluation on attitude at Time 2 ( Ind . = −0.05; p = 0.03). Moreover, in this group message-induced fear increased a positive message evaluation (β = 0.20; p = 0.05), which in turn marginally increased attitude at Time 2 and then intention at Time 2 ( Ind . = −0.06; p = 0.10). As to the other antecedents of physical activity, a higher level of self-efficacy predicted both a more positive message evaluation (β = 0.31; p = 0.001) and a higher attitude at Time 2 (β = 0.17; p = 0.05). Moreover, mediation results showed that receivers' with higher self-efficacy had higher intention to exercise at home at Time 2 thanks to the effect of a more positive message evaluation ( Ind . = 0.1 3; p = 0.01) on their attitude at Time 2 ( Ind . = 0.0 6; p = 0.02). Attitude at Time 1 had a direct effect on participants' attitude at Time 2 (β = 0.52; p = 0.001) and an indirect effect on intention at Time 2 that was fully mediated by attitude at Time 2 ( Ind . = 0.1 6; p = 0.05). In addition, intention at Time 1 (β = 0.43; p = 0.001) and frequency of past behavior (β = 0.14; p = 0.03) determined receivers' intention to do home-based physical activity at Time 2. To sum up, these results showed that non-loss messages were effective in increasing intention at Time 2 when the messages were perceived as not threatening, but triggered some fear, especially when participants had a high self-efficacy.

Figure 2 . Standardized factor loadings of the relationships among study variables in the non-loss message group. ** p < 0.05; *** p < 0.001.

In the case of participants exposed to non-gain messages ( Figure 3 ), a higher perception that the messages were not threatening determined a more positive message evaluation (β = −0.54; p = 0.001), and mediation analyses showed that there was also an indirect effect of message-induced threat on attitude at Time 2 through message evaluation ( Ind . = −0.09; p = 0.03). As in the case of non-loss messages, also in the case of non-gain messages a higher perception that the messages were fearful increased the positive evaluation of the messages (β = 0.25; p = 0.001) and the impact of message-induced fear on attitude at Time 2 was mediated by message evaluation ( Ind . = 0.0 9; p = 0.05). A more positive evaluation of the messages increased attitude at Time 2 (β = 0.16; p = 0.02), which in turn marginally influenced intention at Time 2 (β = 0.21; p = 0.10). As to the influence of baseline variables, a higher attitude at Time 1 influenced their attitude at Time 2 (β = 0.80; p = 0.001), strongly decreased perceived message-induced threat (β = −0.34; p = 0.001), and increased a positive message evaluation (β = 0.20; p = 0.03). This chain was also marginally confirmed by a mediation analysis ( Ind . = 0.03; p = 0.10). In turn, a higher level of intention at Time 1 influenced intention at Time 2 (β = 0.83; p = 0.001), but it also increased message-induced fear (β = 0.32; p = 0.001). However, the indirect impact of intention at Time 1 on attitude at Time 2 through message-induced fear was only marginally confirmed (β = 0.04; p = 0.08). To sum up, these findings indicated that in the case of non-gain messages the impact of message processing on attitude and intention at Time 2 was rather limited. Intention at Time 2 was only marginally predicted by attitude at Time 2, which in turn was only marginally influenced by message evaluation.

Figure 3 . Standardized factor loadings of the relationships among study variables in the non-gain message group. * p < 0.10; ** p < 0.05; *** p < 0.001.

Finally, in the case of participants exposed to loss messages ( Figure 4 ), message-induced threat had a marginal effect both on message evaluation (β = −0.22; p = 0.07) and intention at Time 2 (β = −0.11; p = 0.08). As to message-induced fear, it stimulated a positive message evaluation (β = 0.25; p = 0.04). A more positive evaluation of the messages increased attitude at Time 2 (β = 0.16; p = 0.05), which in turn influenced intention to do physical activity at home at Time 2 (β = 0.35; p = 0.001). In this message group, positive attitude at Time 1 (β = 0.57; p = 0.001) increased attitude at Time 2 and had an indirect effect on intention at Time 2 through attitude at Time 2 ( Ind . = 0.2 0; p = 0.001). However, loss messages were counterproductive for people with a high level of positive attitude at Time 1, who did not perceive the messages as fearful (β = −0.39; p = 0.001) and showed a lower intention at Time 2 after reading these messages (β = −0.27; p = 0.001). A higher intention at Time 1 predicted both a higher intention at Time 2 (β = 0.73; p = 0.001) and a higher message-induced fear (β = 0.33; p = 0.001). Instead, participants with high self-efficacy perceived the loss messages as less threatening (β = −0.28; p = 0.05) and had a more positive attitude at Time 2(β = 0.21; p = 0.04) and intention (β = 0.18; p = 0.02) toward home-based physical activity. Self-efficacy had also a positive indirect effect on intention at Time 2 via attitude at Time 2 ( Ind . = 0.0 7; p = 0.05). Regarding the role of the frequency of past behavior, people with high frequency of past behavior perceived messages as more threatening (β = 0.27; p = 0.03). However, there was not a significant mediation effect from frequency of past behavior to intention at Time 2. To sum up, the perception and the consequences of loss messages were differently affected by the baseline antecedents of physical activity. If a high level of self-efficacy increased their persuasiveness, a high level of attitude at Time 1 and frequency of past behavior decreased it.

Figure 4 . Standardized factor loadings of the relationships among study variables in the loss message group. * p < 0.10; ** p < 0.05; *** p < 0.001.

Determination of Invariant Paths in the Multigroup SEM Model

To disconfirm the null hypothesis of the invariance of the main significant paths among study variables across groups, we then used the Wald test. Table 3 reports all the Wald tests for each comparison.

Table 3 . Results of the comparisons of the main significant paths among message groups.

Compared to the other message conditions, only in the gain message condition perceiving the messages as not threatening directly increased intention at Time 2 to do home-based physical activity ( Table 3 , a). Instead, in the non-loss message condition receivers perceiving the messages as not threatening evaluated them more positively, as increased their attitude and intention at Time 2 more as compared to receivers in the other message conditions ( Table 3 , b). Moreover, only in the case of the non-loss messages, when receivers perceived themselves as being able to exercise regularly (self-efficacy), they evaluated the messages positively and thus increased intention at Time 2 ( Table 3 , c). Finally, the self-efficacy-attitude at Time 2-intention at Time 2 chain ( Table 3 , e), and the self-efficacy-message evaluation-attitude at Time 2-intention at Time 2 chain ( Table 3 , f) were invariant across all message groups.

The pattern from message-induced fear to message evaluation was invariant across groups ( Table 3 , g). In addition, Wald tests showed that when receivers perceived the non-gain messages as not threatening, they had more positive evaluation and then more attitude at Time 2, compared to receivers in the gain message ( Table 3 , h). Wald tests also showed that these higher effect of non-gain message as compared to gain message on attitude at Time 2, via a lower message-induced threat, was even more accentuated when receivers had a high attitude at Time 1 ( Table 3 , i). Finally, both in the non-loss and non-gain message groups, an effect of message-induced fear on intention at Time 2 through message evaluation and attitude at Time 2 emerged. Wald tests showed that this mediation path was stronger in the non-gain message group than in the non-loss message group ( Table 3 , d). This result confirmed a high impact of the perception of fear on receivers' message elaboration when exposed to the gain messages.

First of all, our findings confirmed that message-induced threat and fear have an important role in determining the effects of recommendation messages in the context of the promotion of home-based physical activity. Results showed that the persuasiveness of the gain-framed messages is based on their being perceived as not threatening, so that this perception increases intention to do home-based physical activity at Time 2. This suggests that the major strength of gain-framed messages is their positive valence, which does not stimulate a sense of threat in receivers. In the elaboration of gain-framed messages, message-induced fear plays no significant role, and this absence may be counterproductive, given that messages evoking fear lead people to rely on systematic processing, which in turn stimulates many issue-relevant thoughts, including a positive evaluation of the message (e.g., Meijnders et al., 2001 ; Slater et al., 2002 ; Meyers-Levy and Maheswaran, 2004 ). In consideration of the above, gain-framed messages seem to have an immediate effect because the absence of a threat induces a greater intention to exercise. This effect, however, is not based on systematic processing and belief change (favored by message-induced fear) and is therefore likely to be short-term.

Non-loss-framed messages are also perceived as not threatening. However, in this case such perception stimulates a positive evaluation of the message which, in turn, influences attitude and intention at Time 2. Besides, unlike gain-framed messages, non-loss-framed messages stimulate a link from the perception of fear to attitude and intention at Time 2 through a positive message evaluation. This effect can be attributed to loss aversion, the most considered cause of the persuasive effect of the loss frame ( O'Keefe, 2012 ). Loss aversion is a phenomenon related to the fact that people generally prefer to avoid losses rather than obtain gains. In the case of the non-loss frame, the effect of message-induced fear is marginal, and this suggests that this frame does not induce excessive fear, which may lead people to enact defensive strategies to reduce the potential emotional distress associated with the messages ( Witte, 1992 ; Ruiter et al., 2001 ). Lack of threat and some presence of fear are likely to have contributed to the clear link among message evaluation, attitude and intention at Time 2 observed in receivers exposed to non-loss-framed messages. This strength of the non-loss frame could lie in the fact that it combines the positive aspects of both gain and loss frames. Like the gain frame, the non-loss frame produces a low perceived threat to freedom ( Cho and Sands, 2011 ), that may reduce the psychological reactance. At the same time, proposing the avoidance of negative outcomes, the non-loss frame directs the attention to the possible negative consequences of one's behavior and triggers some fear. Relying on a negative bias, the acquisition of negative information requires greater information processing than does positive information ( Rozin and Royzman, 2001 ). Thus, people tend to think and reason more about non-loss- than gain-framed messages. A greater elaboration may then induce a greater attitude and intention change.

As in the case of gain- and non-loss-framed messages, also in the case of non-gain-framed messages the absence of message-induced threat is fundamental for the positive evaluation of the message. However, the positive evaluation of non-gain-framed messages also depends on their perception as fearful, which in turn influences attitude at Time 2 via a higher message evaluation. These effects trigged by message processing do not extend to intention at Time 2, however, and the absence of a strong attitude-intention link could compromise the likelihood of an actual behavioral change. This can be because a recommendation based on missing the chance to obtain positive outcomes may be rather difficult to understand. Thus, in this case the elaboration of the recommendation could exceeds the receivers' processing capacity, which in turn would create an information overload that reduces the quality of the decision.

Finally, the perception of loss-framed messages as threatening or fearful does not directly influence message evaluation, attitude and intention at Time 2. Actually, the persuasiveness of loss-framed messages is strongly influenced by the level of self-efficacy of the receivers. When they have high self-efficacy, they have greater attitude at Time 2, and then intention at Time 2. In the case of non-loss-framed messages, these receivers have also a more positive evaluation of the messages. This suggests that both loss- and non-loss-framed messages may be more suitable for those who perceive a high capacity of exercising regularly. These findings confirm the role of self-efficacy in influencing message effects, already established by research on framing effects in other types of recommendation messages (e.g., Bertolotti et al., 2020 ). Specifically, past studies showed that people who feel that they have the necessary skills to perform message recommendations are more motivated to accept a loss frame and more inclined to change their behavior accordingly ( Cauberghe et al., 2009 ; Riet et al., 2010 ; Tudoran et al., 2012 ). Conversely, people who feel they are not able to deal with the requests tend to activate defense mechanisms that lead them to reject the threatening loss message. In the present study, we reported a first evidence that self-efficacy is also an important predictor of how people elaborate non-loss-framed messages.

Our research has several limitations. First, our sample was small and restricted to Italian people, thus the data may not be generalized to other countries. Second, our research design lacked a measure for assessing future behavior and did not include a measure of the volume or amount of past physical activity. Third, we cannot exclude the risk of self-selection bias, as participants were invited for a study on public communication. Finally, participants were exposed only once to short messages on physical activity outcomes, thus we were able to assess only small and short-term effects. Messages delivered over a longer time span and with repeated exposure (e.g., Caso and Carfora, 2017 ; Carfora et al., 2018 ) could yield larger and long-term effects on recipients' attitudes and intentions. In sum, future research should carefully retest our results on the mechanisms involved in processing messages on physical activity formulated with different frames, sending messages over a longer period. Once said that, the results of the present study can have some useful implications regarding how to select message framing in their communication to promote home-based physical activity in the case of future outbreaks or in other eventualities that require physical exercise at home, such as in the case of rehabilitation programs.

To sum up, in the present study we validated a model explaining how messages differing according to the outcome sensitivities level of message framing (i.e., gain, non-loss, non-gain and loss messages; Cesario et al., 2013 ), influence receivers' evaluation of the messages, as well as attitude and intention toward home-based physical activity at Time 2. Our results respond to the need of theoretical advancement in the area of the underlying mechanisms elicited by message framing and show the plausibility of a model including both threat and fear elicited by message exposure. The present study showed that a low perception of threat to freedom strongly contributed to the persuasive effect of the gain and non-loss messages. Moreover, the non-loss messages induced a marginal fear, which may have led participants to systematically process the recommendation but not to enact defensive strategies to reduce a to high emotional distress ( Witte, 1992 ; Ruiter et al., 2001 ). Instead, when reading loss and non-gain messages, receivers' reactions were more determined by self-efficacy, ending up with reduced persuasive power.

In conclusion, our study introduced and tested an inclusive reference model to explain the effects of message frames based on the presence/absence of positive/negative outcomes of expected behavior and aimed at changing the attitude and intention of the receivers at Time 2. It will be up to future research to further investigate the possibility of applying this model to messages aimed at modifying attitudes and intentions other than the one investigated here, as well as verifying if and how the differences in the mechanisms studied here also depend on individual differences among receivers.

Data Availability Statement

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

Ethics Statement

The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by Ethics committee of the Department of Psychology - Catholic University of the Sacred Heart - Milan. The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.

Author Contributions

All authors listed have made a substantial, direct and intellectual contribution to the work, and approved it for publication.

This study was part of the project Re-HUB-ility: Rehabilitative pErsonalized Home System and vIrtuaL coaching for chronIc Treatment in elderlY supported by Call HUB Ricerca e Innovazione, Regione Lombardia and by Athics s.r.l. (Grant Number: D.G.R. N. 727 of 5/11/2018; decreto 18854 del 14/12/2018).

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Supplementary Material

The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.644050/full#supplementary-material

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Keywords: message frame, home-based physical activity, COVID-19, lockdown, exercising at home, psychosocial

Citation: Carfora V and Catellani P (2021) The Effect of Persuasive Messages in Promoting Home-Based Physical Activity During COVID-19 Pandemic. Front. Psychol. 12:644050. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.644050

Received: 19 December 2020; Accepted: 08 March 2021; Published: 01 April 2021.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2021 Carfora and Catellani. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Valentina Carfora, valentina.carfora@unicatt.it

† These authors share first authorship

‡ These authors share senior authorship

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Plan, Prepare & Make the Best Career Choices

2 Minute Speech on Covid-19 (CoronaVirus) for Students

The year, 2019, saw the discovery of a previously unknown coronavirus illness, Covid-19 . The Coronavirus has affected the way we go about our everyday lives. This pandemic has devastated millions of people, either unwell or passed away due to the sickness. The most common symptoms of this viral illness include a high temperature, a cough, bone pain, and difficulties with the respiratory system. In addition to these symptoms, patients infected with the coronavirus may also feel weariness, a sore throat, muscular discomfort, and a loss of taste or smell.

10 Lines Speech on Covid-19 for Students

The Coronavirus is a member of a family of viruses that may infect their hosts exceptionally quickly.

Humans created the Coronavirus in the city of Wuhan in China, where it first appeared.

The first confirmed case of the Coronavirus was found in India in January in the year 2020.

Protecting ourselves against the coronavirus is essential by covering our mouths and noses when we cough or sneeze to prevent the infection from spreading.

We must constantly wash our hands with antibacterial soap and face masks to protect ourselves.

To ensure our safety, the government has ordered the whole nation's closure to halt the virus's spread.

The Coronavirus forced all our classes to be taken online, as schools and institutions were shut down.

Due to the coronavirus, everyone was instructed to stay indoors throughout the lockdown.

During this period, I spent a lot of time playing games with family members.

Even though the cases of COVID-19 are a lot less now, we should still take precautions.

Short 2-Minute Speech on Covid 19 for Students

The coronavirus, also known as Covid - 19 , causes a severe illness. Those who are exposed to it become sick in their lungs. A brand-new virus is having a devastating effect throughout the globe. It's being passed from person to person via social interaction.

The first instance of Covid - 19 was discovered in December 2019 in Wuhan, China . The World Health Organization proclaimed the covid - 19 pandemic in March 2020. It has now reached every country in the globe. Droplets produced by an infected person's cough or sneeze might infect those nearby.

The severity of Covid-19 symptoms varies widely. Symptoms aren't always present. The typical symptoms are high temperatures, a dry cough, and difficulty breathing. Covid - 19 individuals also exhibit other symptoms such as weakness, a sore throat, muscular soreness, and a diminished sense of smell and taste.

Vaccination has been produced by many countries but the effectiveness of them is different for every individual. The only treatment then is to avoid contracting in the first place. We can accomplish that by following these protocols—

Put on a mask to hide your face. Use soap and hand sanitiser often to keep germs at bay.

Keep a distance of 5 to 6 feet at all times.

Never put your fingers in your mouth or nose.

Long 2-Minute Speech on Covid 19 for Students

As students, it's important for us to understand the gravity of the situation regarding the Covid-19 pandemic and the impact it has on our communities and the world at large. In this speech, I will discuss the real-world examples of the effects of the pandemic and its impact on various aspects of our lives.

Impact on Economy | The Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the global economy. We have seen how businesses have been forced to close their doors, leading to widespread job loss and economic hardship. Many individuals and families have been struggling to make ends meet, and this has led to a rise in poverty and inequality.

Impact on Healthcare Systems | The pandemic has also put a strain on healthcare systems around the world. Hospitals have been overwhelmed with patients, and healthcare workers have been stretched to their limits. This has highlighted the importance of investing in healthcare systems and ensuring that they are prepared for future crises.

Impact on Education | The pandemic has also affected the education system, with schools and universities being closed around the world. This has led to a shift towards online learning and the use of technology to continue education remotely. However, it has also highlighted the digital divide, with many students from low-income backgrounds facing difficulties in accessing online learning.

Impact on Mental Health | The pandemic has not only affected our physical health but also our mental health. We have seen how the isolation and uncertainty caused by the pandemic have led to an increase in stress, anxiety, and depression. It's important that we take care of our mental health and support each other during this difficult time.

Real-life Story of a Student

John is a high school student who was determined to succeed despite the struggles brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.

John's school closed down in the early days of the pandemic, and he quickly found himself struggling to adjust to online learning. Without the structure and support of in-person classes, John found it difficult to stay focused and motivated. He also faced challenges at home, as his parents were both essential workers and were often not available to help him with his schoolwork.

Despite these struggles, John refused to let the pandemic defeat him. He made a schedule for himself, to stay on top of his assignments and set goals for himself. He also reached out to his teachers for additional support, and they were more than happy to help.

John also found ways to stay connected with his classmates and friends, even though they were physically apart. They formed a study group and would meet regularly over Zoom to discuss their assignments and provide each other with support.

Thanks to his hard work and determination, John was able to maintain good grades and even improved in some subjects. He graduated high school on time, and was even accepted into his first-choice college.

John's story is a testament to the resilience and determination of students everywhere. Despite the challenges brought on by the pandemic, he was able to succeed and achieve his goals. He shows us that with hard work, determination, and support, we can overcome even the toughest of obstacles.

Explore Career Options (By Industry)

Construction
Entertainment
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Information Technology

Data Administrator

Database professionals use software to store and organise data such as financial information, and customer shipping records. Individuals who opt for a career as data administrators ensure that data is available for users and secured from unauthorised sales. DB administrators may work in various types of industries. It may involve computer systems design, service firms, insurance companies, banks and hospitals.

Bio Medical Engineer

The field of biomedical engineering opens up a universe of expert chances. An Individual in the biomedical engineering career path work in the field of engineering as well as medicine, in order to find out solutions to common problems of the two fields. The biomedical engineering job opportunities are to collaborate with doctors and researchers to develop medical systems, equipment, or devices that can solve clinical problems. Here we will be discussing jobs after biomedical engineering, how to get a job in biomedical engineering, biomedical engineering scope, and salary.

Ethical Hacker

A career as ethical hacker involves various challenges and provides lucrative opportunities in the digital era where every giant business and startup owns its cyberspace on the world wide web. Individuals in the ethical hacker career path try to find the vulnerabilities in the cyber system to get its authority. If he or she succeeds in it then he or she gets its illegal authority. Individuals in the ethical hacker career path then steal information or delete the file that could affect the business, functioning, or services of the organization.

GIS officer work on various GIS software to conduct a study and gather spatial and non-spatial information. GIS experts update the GIS data and maintain it. The databases include aerial or satellite imagery, latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates, and manually digitized images of maps. In a career as GIS expert, one is responsible for creating online and mobile maps.

Data Analyst

The invention of the database has given fresh breath to the people involved in the data analytics career path. Analysis refers to splitting up a whole into its individual components for individual analysis. Data analysis is a method through which raw data are processed and transformed into information that would be beneficial for user strategic thinking.

Data are collected and examined to respond to questions, evaluate hypotheses or contradict theories. It is a tool for analyzing, transforming, modeling, and arranging data with useful knowledge, to assist in decision-making and methods, encompassing various strategies, and is used in different fields of business, research, and social science.

Geothermal Engineer

Individuals who opt for a career as geothermal engineers are the professionals involved in the processing of geothermal energy. The responsibilities of geothermal engineers may vary depending on the workplace location. Those who work in fields design facilities to process and distribute geothermal energy. They oversee the functioning of machinery used in the field.

Database Architect

If you are intrigued by the programming world and are interested in developing communications networks then a career as database architect may be a good option for you. Data architect roles and responsibilities include building design models for data communication networks. Wide Area Networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), and intranets are included in the database networks. It is expected that database architects will have in-depth knowledge of a company's business to develop a network to fulfil the requirements of the organisation. Stay tuned as we look at the larger picture and give you more information on what is db architecture, why you should pursue database architecture, what to expect from such a degree and what your job opportunities will be after graduation. Here, we will be discussing how to become a data architect. Students can visit NIT Trichy , IIT Kharagpur , JMI New Delhi .

Remote Sensing Technician

Individuals who opt for a career as a remote sensing technician possess unique personalities. Remote sensing analysts seem to be rational human beings, they are strong, independent, persistent, sincere, realistic and resourceful. Some of them are analytical as well, which means they are intelligent, introspective and inquisitive.

Remote sensing scientists use remote sensing technology to support scientists in fields such as community planning, flight planning or the management of natural resources. Analysing data collected from aircraft, satellites or ground-based platforms using statistical analysis software, image analysis software or Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a significant part of their work. Do you want to learn how to become remote sensing technician? There's no need to be concerned; we've devised a simple remote sensing technician career path for you. Scroll through the pages and read.

Budget Analyst

Budget analysis, in a nutshell, entails thoroughly analyzing the details of a financial budget. The budget analysis aims to better understand and manage revenue. Budget analysts assist in the achievement of financial targets, the preservation of profitability, and the pursuit of long-term growth for a business. Budget analysts generally have a bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, economics, or a closely related field. Knowledge of Financial Management is of prime importance in this career.

Underwriter

An underwriter is a person who assesses and evaluates the risk of insurance in his or her field like mortgage, loan, health policy, investment, and so on and so forth. The underwriter career path does involve risks as analysing the risks means finding out if there is a way for the insurance underwriter jobs to recover the money from its clients. If the risk turns out to be too much for the company then in the future it is an underwriter who will be held accountable for it. Therefore, one must carry out his or her job with a lot of attention and diligence.

Finance Executive

Product manager.

A Product Manager is a professional responsible for product planning and marketing. He or she manages the product throughout the Product Life Cycle, gathering and prioritising the product. A product manager job description includes defining the product vision and working closely with team members of other departments to deliver winning products.

Operations Manager

Individuals in the operations manager jobs are responsible for ensuring the efficiency of each department to acquire its optimal goal. They plan the use of resources and distribution of materials. The operations manager's job description includes managing budgets, negotiating contracts, and performing administrative tasks.

Stock Analyst

Individuals who opt for a career as a stock analyst examine the company's investments makes decisions and keep track of financial securities. The nature of such investments will differ from one business to the next. Individuals in the stock analyst career use data mining to forecast a company's profits and revenues, advise clients on whether to buy or sell, participate in seminars, and discussing financial matters with executives and evaluate annual reports.

A Researcher is a professional who is responsible for collecting data and information by reviewing the literature and conducting experiments and surveys. He or she uses various methodological processes to provide accurate data and information that is utilised by academicians and other industry professionals. Here, we will discuss what is a researcher, the researcher's salary, types of researchers.

Welding Engineer

Welding Engineer Job Description: A Welding Engineer work involves managing welding projects and supervising welding teams. He or she is responsible for reviewing welding procedures, processes and documentation. A career as Welding Engineer involves conducting failure analyses and causes on welding issues.

Transportation Planner

A career as Transportation Planner requires technical application of science and technology in engineering, particularly the concepts, equipment and technologies involved in the production of products and services. In fields like land use, infrastructure review, ecological standards and street design, he or she considers issues of health, environment and performance. A Transportation Planner assigns resources for implementing and designing programmes. He or she is responsible for assessing needs, preparing plans and forecasts and compliance with regulations.

Environmental Engineer

Individuals who opt for a career as an environmental engineer are construction professionals who utilise the skills and knowledge of biology, soil science, chemistry and the concept of engineering to design and develop projects that serve as solutions to various environmental problems.

Safety Manager

A Safety Manager is a professional responsible for employee’s safety at work. He or she plans, implements and oversees the company’s employee safety. A Safety Manager ensures compliance and adherence to Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) guidelines.

Conservation Architect

A Conservation Architect is a professional responsible for conserving and restoring buildings or monuments having a historic value. He or she applies techniques to document and stabilise the object’s state without any further damage. A Conservation Architect restores the monuments and heritage buildings to bring them back to their original state.

Structural Engineer

A Structural Engineer designs buildings, bridges, and other related structures. He or she analyzes the structures and makes sure the structures are strong enough to be used by the people. A career as a Structural Engineer requires working in the construction process. It comes under the civil engineering discipline. A Structure Engineer creates structural models with the help of computer-aided design software.

Highway Engineer

Highway Engineer Job Description: A Highway Engineer is a civil engineer who specialises in planning and building thousands of miles of roads that support connectivity and allow transportation across the country. He or she ensures that traffic management schemes are effectively planned concerning economic sustainability and successful implementation.

Field Surveyor

Are you searching for a Field Surveyor Job Description? A Field Surveyor is a professional responsible for conducting field surveys for various places or geographical conditions. He or she collects the required data and information as per the instructions given by senior officials.

Orthotist and Prosthetist

Orthotists and Prosthetists are professionals who provide aid to patients with disabilities. They fix them to artificial limbs (prosthetics) and help them to regain stability. There are times when people lose their limbs in an accident. In some other occasions, they are born without a limb or orthopaedic impairment. Orthotists and prosthetists play a crucial role in their lives with fixing them to assistive devices and provide mobility.

Pathologist

A career in pathology in India is filled with several responsibilities as it is a medical branch and affects human lives. The demand for pathologists has been increasing over the past few years as people are getting more aware of different diseases. Not only that, but an increase in population and lifestyle changes have also contributed to the increase in a pathologist’s demand. The pathology careers provide an extremely huge number of opportunities and if you want to be a part of the medical field you can consider being a pathologist. If you want to know more about a career in pathology in India then continue reading this article.

Veterinary Doctor

Speech therapist, gynaecologist.

Gynaecology can be defined as the study of the female body. The job outlook for gynaecology is excellent since there is evergreen demand for one because of their responsibility of dealing with not only women’s health but also fertility and pregnancy issues. Although most women prefer to have a women obstetrician gynaecologist as their doctor, men also explore a career as a gynaecologist and there are ample amounts of male doctors in the field who are gynaecologists and aid women during delivery and childbirth.

Audiologist

The audiologist career involves audiology professionals who are responsible to treat hearing loss and proactively preventing the relevant damage. Individuals who opt for a career as an audiologist use various testing strategies with the aim to determine if someone has a normal sensitivity to sounds or not. After the identification of hearing loss, a hearing doctor is required to determine which sections of the hearing are affected, to what extent they are affected, and where the wound causing the hearing loss is found. As soon as the hearing loss is identified, the patients are provided with recommendations for interventions and rehabilitation such as hearing aids, cochlear implants, and appropriate medical referrals. While audiology is a branch of science that studies and researches hearing, balance, and related disorders.

An oncologist is a specialised doctor responsible for providing medical care to patients diagnosed with cancer. He or she uses several therapies to control the cancer and its effect on the human body such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation therapy and biopsy. An oncologist designs a treatment plan based on a pathology report after diagnosing the type of cancer and where it is spreading inside the body.

Are you searching for an ‘Anatomist job description’? An Anatomist is a research professional who applies the laws of biological science to determine the ability of bodies of various living organisms including animals and humans to regenerate the damaged or destroyed organs. If you want to know what does an anatomist do, then read the entire article, where we will answer all your questions.

For an individual who opts for a career as an actor, the primary responsibility is to completely speak to the character he or she is playing and to persuade the crowd that the character is genuine by connecting with them and bringing them into the story. This applies to significant roles and littler parts, as all roles join to make an effective creation. Here in this article, we will discuss how to become an actor in India, actor exams, actor salary in India, and actor jobs.

Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats create and direct original routines for themselves, in addition to developing interpretations of existing routines. The work of circus acrobats can be seen in a variety of performance settings, including circus, reality shows, sports events like the Olympics, movies and commercials. Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats must be prepared to face rejections and intermittent periods of work. The creativity of acrobats may extend to other aspects of the performance. For example, acrobats in the circus may work with gym trainers, celebrities or collaborate with other professionals to enhance such performance elements as costume and or maybe at the teaching end of the career.

Video Game Designer

Career as a video game designer is filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. A video game designer is someone who is involved in the process of creating a game from day one. He or she is responsible for fulfilling duties like designing the character of the game, the several levels involved, plot, art and similar other elements. Individuals who opt for a career as a video game designer may also write the codes for the game using different programming languages.

Depending on the video game designer job description and experience they may also have to lead a team and do the early testing of the game in order to suggest changes and find loopholes.

Radio Jockey

Radio Jockey is an exciting, promising career and a great challenge for music lovers. If you are really interested in a career as radio jockey, then it is very important for an RJ to have an automatic, fun, and friendly personality. If you want to get a job done in this field, a strong command of the language and a good voice are always good things. Apart from this, in order to be a good radio jockey, you will also listen to good radio jockeys so that you can understand their style and later make your own by practicing.

A career as radio jockey has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. If you want to know more about a career as radio jockey, and how to become a radio jockey then continue reading the article.

Choreographer

The word “choreography" actually comes from Greek words that mean “dance writing." Individuals who opt for a career as a choreographer create and direct original dances, in addition to developing interpretations of existing dances. A Choreographer dances and utilises his or her creativity in other aspects of dance performance. For example, he or she may work with the music director to select music or collaborate with other famous choreographers to enhance such performance elements as lighting, costume and set design.

Social Media Manager

A career as social media manager involves implementing the company’s or brand’s marketing plan across all social media channels. Social media managers help in building or improving a brand’s or a company’s website traffic, build brand awareness, create and implement marketing and brand strategy. Social media managers are key to important social communication as well.

Photographer

Photography is considered both a science and an art, an artistic means of expression in which the camera replaces the pen. In a career as a photographer, an individual is hired to capture the moments of public and private events, such as press conferences or weddings, or may also work inside a studio, where people go to get their picture clicked. Photography is divided into many streams each generating numerous career opportunities in photography. With the boom in advertising, media, and the fashion industry, photography has emerged as a lucrative and thrilling career option for many Indian youths.

An individual who is pursuing a career as a producer is responsible for managing the business aspects of production. They are involved in each aspect of production from its inception to deception. Famous movie producers review the script, recommend changes and visualise the story.

They are responsible for overseeing the finance involved in the project and distributing the film for broadcasting on various platforms. A career as a producer is quite fulfilling as well as exhaustive in terms of playing different roles in order for a production to be successful. Famous movie producers are responsible for hiring creative and technical personnel on contract basis.

Copy Writer

In a career as a copywriter, one has to consult with the client and understand the brief well. A career as a copywriter has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. Several new mediums of advertising are opening therefore making it a lucrative career choice. Students can pursue various copywriter courses such as Journalism , Advertising , Marketing Management . Here, we have discussed how to become a freelance copywriter, copywriter career path, how to become a copywriter in India, and copywriting career outlook.

In a career as a vlogger, one generally works for himself or herself. However, once an individual has gained viewership there are several brands and companies that approach them for paid collaboration. It is one of those fields where an individual can earn well while following his or her passion.

Ever since internet costs got reduced the viewership for these types of content has increased on a large scale. Therefore, a career as a vlogger has a lot to offer. If you want to know more about the Vlogger eligibility, roles and responsibilities then continue reading the article.

For publishing books, newspapers, magazines and digital material, editorial and commercial strategies are set by publishers. Individuals in publishing career paths make choices about the markets their businesses will reach and the type of content that their audience will be served. Individuals in book publisher careers collaborate with editorial staff, designers, authors, and freelance contributors who develop and manage the creation of content.

Careers in journalism are filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. One cannot afford to miss out on the details. As it is the small details that provide insights into a story. Depending on those insights a journalist goes about writing a news article. A journalism career can be stressful at times but if you are someone who is passionate about it then it is the right choice for you. If you want to know more about the media field and journalist career then continue reading this article.

Individuals in the editor career path is an unsung hero of the news industry who polishes the language of the news stories provided by stringers, reporters, copywriters and content writers and also news agencies. Individuals who opt for a career as an editor make it more persuasive, concise and clear for readers. In this article, we will discuss the details of the editor's career path such as how to become an editor in India, editor salary in India and editor skills and qualities.

Individuals who opt for a career as a reporter may often be at work on national holidays and festivities. He or she pitches various story ideas and covers news stories in risky situations. Students can pursue a BMC (Bachelor of Mass Communication) , B.M.M. (Bachelor of Mass Media) , or MAJMC (MA in Journalism and Mass Communication) to become a reporter. While we sit at home reporters travel to locations to collect information that carries a news value.

Corporate Executive

Are you searching for a Corporate Executive job description? A Corporate Executive role comes with administrative duties. He or she provides support to the leadership of the organisation. A Corporate Executive fulfils the business purpose and ensures its financial stability. In this article, we are going to discuss how to become corporate executive.

Multimedia Specialist

A multimedia specialist is a media professional who creates, audio, videos, graphic image files, computer animations for multimedia applications. He or she is responsible for planning, producing, and maintaining websites and applications.

Quality Controller

A quality controller plays a crucial role in an organisation. He or she is responsible for performing quality checks on manufactured products. He or she identifies the defects in a product and rejects the product.

A quality controller records detailed information about products with defects and sends it to the supervisor or plant manager to take necessary actions to improve the production process.

Production Manager

A QA Lead is in charge of the QA Team. The role of QA Lead comes with the responsibility of assessing services and products in order to determine that he or she meets the quality standards. He or she develops, implements and manages test plans.

Process Development Engineer

The Process Development Engineers design, implement, manufacture, mine, and other production systems using technical knowledge and expertise in the industry. They use computer modeling software to test technologies and machinery. An individual who is opting career as Process Development Engineer is responsible for developing cost-effective and efficient processes. They also monitor the production process and ensure it functions smoothly and efficiently.

AWS Solution Architect

An AWS Solution Architect is someone who specializes in developing and implementing cloud computing systems. He or she has a good understanding of the various aspects of cloud computing and can confidently deploy and manage their systems. He or she troubleshoots the issues and evaluates the risk from the third party.

Azure Administrator

An Azure Administrator is a professional responsible for implementing, monitoring, and maintaining Azure Solutions. He or she manages cloud infrastructure service instances and various cloud servers as well as sets up public and private cloud systems.

Computer Programmer

Careers in computer programming primarily refer to the systematic act of writing code and moreover include wider computer science areas. The word 'programmer' or 'coder' has entered into practice with the growing number of newly self-taught tech enthusiasts. Computer programming careers involve the use of designs created by software developers and engineers and transforming them into commands that can be implemented by computers. These commands result in regular usage of social media sites, word-processing applications and browsers.

Information Security Manager

Individuals in the information security manager career path involves in overseeing and controlling all aspects of computer security. The IT security manager job description includes planning and carrying out security measures to protect the business data and information from corruption, theft, unauthorised access, and deliberate attack

ITSM Manager

Automation test engineer.

An Automation Test Engineer job involves executing automated test scripts. He or she identifies the project’s problems and troubleshoots them. The role involves documenting the defect using management tools. He or she works with the application team in order to resolve any issues arising during the testing process.

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Persuasive Speech Outline, with Examples

March 17, 2021 - Gini Beqiri

A persuasive speech is a speech that is given with the intention of convincing the audience to believe or do something. This could be virtually anything – voting, organ donation, recycling, and so on.

A successful persuasive speech effectively convinces the audience to your point of view, providing you come across as trustworthy and knowledgeable about the topic you’re discussing.

So, how do you start convincing a group of strangers to share your opinion? And how do you connect with them enough to earn their trust?

Topics for your persuasive speech

We’ve made a list of persuasive speech topics you could use next time you’re asked to give one. The topics are thought-provoking and things which many people have an opinion on.

When using any of our persuasive speech ideas, make sure you have a solid knowledge about the topic you’re speaking about – and make sure you discuss counter arguments too.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

All school children should wear a uniform
Facebook is making people more socially anxious
It should be illegal to drive over the age of 80
Lying isn’t always wrong
The case for organ donation

Read our full list of 75 persuasive speech topics and ideas .

Preparation: Consider your audience

As with any speech, preparation is crucial. Before you put pen to paper, think about what you want to achieve with your speech. This will help organise your thoughts as you realistically can only cover 2-4 main points before your audience get bored .

It’s also useful to think about who your audience are at this point. If they are unlikely to know much about your topic then you’ll need to factor in context of your topic when planning the structure and length of your speech. You should also consider their:

Cultural or religious backgrounds
Shared concerns, attitudes and problems
Shared interests, beliefs and hopes
Baseline attitude – are they hostile, neutral, or open to change?

The factors above will all determine the approach you take to writing your speech. For example, if your topic is about childhood obesity, you could begin with a story about your own children or a shared concern every parent has. This would suit an audience who are more likely to be parents than young professionals who have only just left college.

Remember the 3 main approaches to persuade others

There are three main approaches used to persuade others:

The ethos approach appeals to the audience’s ethics and morals, such as what is the ‘right thing’ to do for humanity, saving the environment, etc.

Pathos persuasion is when you appeal to the audience’s emotions, such as when you tell a story that makes them the main character in a difficult situation.

The logos approach to giving a persuasive speech is when you appeal to the audience’s logic – ie. your speech is essentially more driven by facts and logic. The benefit of this technique is that your point of view becomes virtually indisputable because you make the audience feel that only your view is the logical one.

Ethos, Pathos, Logos: 3 Pillars of Public Speaking and Persuasion

Ideas for your persuasive speech outline

1. structure of your persuasive speech.

The opening and closing of speech are the most important. Consider these carefully when thinking about your persuasive speech outline. A strong opening ensures you have the audience’s attention from the start and gives them a positive first impression of you.

You’ll want to start with a strong opening such as an attention grabbing statement, statistic of fact. These are usually dramatic or shocking, such as:

Sadly, in the next 18 minutes when I do our chat, four Americans that are alive will be dead from the food that they eat – Jamie Oliver

Another good way of starting a persuasive speech is to include your audience in the picture you’re trying to paint. By making them part of the story, you’re embedding an emotional connection between them and your speech.

You could do this in a more toned-down way by talking about something you know that your audience has in common with you. It’s also helpful at this point to include your credentials in a persuasive speech to gain your audience’s trust.

Speech structure and speech argument for a persuasive speech outline.

Obama would spend hours with his team working on the opening and closing statements of his speech.

2. Stating your argument

You should pick between 2 and 4 themes to discuss during your speech so that you have enough time to explain your viewpoint and convince your audience to the same way of thinking.

It’s important that each of your points transitions seamlessly into the next one so that your speech has a logical flow. Work on your connecting sentences between each of your themes so that your speech is easy to listen to.

Your argument should be backed up by objective research and not purely your subjective opinion. Use examples, analogies, and stories so that the audience can relate more easily to your topic, and therefore are more likely to be persuaded to your point of view.

3. Addressing counter-arguments

Any balanced theory or thought addresses and disputes counter-arguments made against it. By addressing these, you’ll strengthen your persuasive speech by refuting your audience’s objections and you’ll show that you are knowledgeable to other thoughts on the topic.

When describing an opposing point of view, don’t explain it in a bias way – explain it in the same way someone who holds that view would describe it. That way, you won’t irritate members of your audience who disagree with you and you’ll show that you’ve reached your point of view through reasoned judgement. Simply identify any counter-argument and pose explanations against them.

Complete Guide to Debating

4. Closing your speech

Your closing line of your speech is your last chance to convince your audience about what you’re saying. It’s also most likely to be the sentence they remember most about your entire speech so make sure it’s a good one!

The most effective persuasive speeches end with a call to action . For example, if you’ve been speaking about organ donation, your call to action might be asking the audience to register as donors.

Practice answering AI questions on your speech and get feedback on your performance .

If audience members ask you questions, make sure you listen carefully and respectfully to the full question. Don’t interject in the middle of a question or become defensive.

You should show that you have carefully considered their viewpoint and refute it in an objective way (if you have opposing opinions). Ensure you remain patient, friendly and polite at all times.

Example 1: Persuasive speech outline

This example is from the Kentucky Community and Technical College.

Specific purpose

To persuade my audience to start walking in order to improve their health.

Central idea

Regular walking can improve both your mental and physical health.

Introduction

Let’s be honest, we lead an easy life: automatic dishwashers, riding lawnmowers, T.V. remote controls, automatic garage door openers, power screwdrivers, bread machines, electric pencil sharpeners, etc., etc. etc. We live in a time-saving, energy-saving, convenient society. It’s a wonderful life. Or is it?

Example 2: Persuasive speech

Tips for delivering your persuasive speech

Practice, practice, and practice some more . Record yourself speaking and listen for any nervous habits you have such as a nervous laugh, excessive use of filler words, or speaking too quickly.
Show confident body language . Stand with your legs hip width apart with your shoulders centrally aligned. Ground your feet to the floor and place your hands beside your body so that hand gestures come freely. Your audience won’t be convinced about your argument if you don’t sound confident in it. Find out more about confident body language here .
Don’t memorise your speech word-for-word or read off a script. If you memorise your persuasive speech, you’ll sound less authentic and panic if you lose your place. Similarly, if you read off a script you won’t sound genuine and you won’t be able to connect with the audience by making eye contact . In turn, you’ll come across as less trustworthy and knowledgeable. You could simply remember your key points instead, or learn your opening and closing sentences.
Remember to use facial expressions when storytelling – they make you more relatable. By sharing a personal story you’ll more likely be speaking your truth which will help you build a connection with the audience too. Facial expressions help bring your story to life and transport the audience into your situation.
Keep your speech as concise as possible . When practicing the delivery, see if you can edit it to have the same meaning but in a more succinct way. This will keep the audience engaged.

The best persuasive speech ideas are those that spark a level of controversy. However, a public speech is not the time to express an opinion that is considered outside the norm. If in doubt, play it safe and stick to topics that divide opinions about 50-50.

Bear in mind who your audience are and plan your persuasive speech outline accordingly, with researched evidence to support your argument. It’s important to consider counter-arguments to show that you are knowledgeable about the topic as a whole and not bias towards your own line of thought.

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The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, DC 20500

Remarks by President Biden on the COVID- ⁠ 19 Response and Vaccination Program

South Court Auditorium Eisenhower Executive Office Building

12:54 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon. I’ve just been briefed by my COVID-19 team on the progress we’re making in our fight against the virus. Today, I want to provide a brief update on my plan that I announced in early September to accelerate the path out of the pandemic. It’s working. We’re making progress. Nationally, daily cases are down 47 percent; hospitalizations are down 38 percent over the past six weeks. Over the past two weeks, most of the country has improved as well. Case rates are declining in 39 states and hospital rates are declining in 38 states. We’re down to 66 million — it’s still an unacceptably high number — of unvaccinated people from almost 100 million in July. That’s important. It’s important progress. But it’s not — now is not the time to let up. We have a lot more to do. We’re in a very critical period as we work to turn the corner on COVID-19. First, we have to do more to vaccinate the 66 million unvaccinated people in America. It’s essential. The vaccine requirements that we started rolling out in the summer are working. They’re working. The Labor Department is going to soon be issuing an emergency rule for companies with 100 or more employees to implement vaccination requirements in their — among their workforce. Every day, we see more businesses implementing vaccination requirements, and the mounting data that shows they work. Businesses and organizations that are implementing requirements are seeing their vaccination rates rise by an average of 20 percent or more to well over 90 percent — the number of employees vaccinated. Let’s be clear: Vaccination requirements should not be another issue that divides us. That’s why we continue to battle the misinformation that’s out there, and companies and communities are setting up their — stepping up as well to combat these — the misinformation. Southwest Airlines at — the head of the pilot — the head of the pilot’s union and its CEO dismissed critics who claim vaccination mandates contributed to flight disruptions. School board members, religious leaders, and doctors across the country are fighting misinformation and educating people about the importance of vaccines. All of these efforts are going to help us continue moving the dial to eliminate this disease. Second, we’re going to continue protecting the vaccinated. This work — this week, the Food and Drug Administration and — the FDA is reviewing the data on Moderna and Johnson & Johnson boosters. We expect a final decision from the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -– the CDC –- in the next couple of weeks. If they authorize the boosters, which will be strictly made based on the science — that decision will be based on the science — this will mean all three vaccines will be available for boosters. Already, more than 1 out of 3 eligible seniors have gotten their third shot — the booster. And we’re going to continue to provide that additional protection to seniors and others as we — as we head into the holidays.

These boosters are free. I’ll say it again: They’re free, available, and convenient to get. Third point I’d like to make: We need to continue to keep our schools and our students safe. Ninety-six percent of school districts are fully open with children back in the classroom and — for in-person learning. We have been able to do this because we’ve provided our schools the resources they need to protect children and the educators, as well as the staff that works in the schools. We’ve been encouraging schools to implement important health measures like masking, testing, and getting everyone vaccinated who is eligible to be vaccinated. Now, I know parents out there are anxiously waiting for a vaccine for children ages 5 to 11. The good news is the FDA and outside experts from the CDC are set to make its determination as to whether the vaccine will be authorized for that age range in the next few weeks. If authorized, we are ready. We have purchased enough vaccines for all children between the ages of 5 and 11 in the United States. It will be — it will be convenient for parents to get their children vaccinated at trusted locations, and families will be able to sleep easier at night knowing their kids are protected as well. Let me close with this: The plan I laid out in September is working. We’re headed in the right direction. We have critical work to do, but we can’t let up now. My team and I are doing everything we can. But I’m calling on more businesses to step up. I’m calling on more parents to get their children vaccinated when they are eligible. And I’m asking everyone — everyone who hasn’t gotten vaccinated: Please get vaccinated. That’s how we put this pandemic behind us and accelerate our economic recovery. We can do this. I’ve said many times: God bless you all, and may God protect our troops. Thank you very much. 1:00 P.M. EDT

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Springer Nature - PMC COVID-19 Collection

Beyond Duty: Medical “Heroes” and the COVID-19 Pandemic

Wendy lipworth.

Sydney Health Ethics, University of Sydney, Medical Foundation Building (K25), Sydney, NSW 2006 Australia

When infectious disease outbreaks strike, health facilities acquire labels such as “war zones” and “battlefields” and healthcare professionals become “heroes” on the “front line.” But unlike soldiers, healthcare professionals often take on these dangerous roles without any prior intention or explicit expectation that their work will place them in grave personal danger. This inevitably raises questions about their role-related obligations and whether they should be free to choose not to endanger themselves. In this article, I argue that it is helpful to view this situation not only through the lens of “professional duty” but also through the lens of “role-related conflicts.” Doing so has the advantage of avoiding exceptionalism and allowing us to draw lessons not only from previous epidemics but also from a wide range of far more common role-related dilemmas in healthcare.

Almost as soon as the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, a narrative about healthcare “heroes” appeared in the popular media. According to this narrative, healthcare workers (HCWs) are marching to the “frontline” in the “war” (McMillan 2020 , ¶2) against the virus and, in doing so, are putting themselves at considerable risk. These “heroic” HCWs have since been the subject of coordinated public applause (Hurst 2020 ), serenaded by famous singers (Chan 2020 ), and profiled in the media (Knapp 2020 ). Funds have been raised to demonstrate appreciation for their sacrifices (The Common Good 2020 ), lines of “Thank You Heroes” action figures (O’Kane 2020 ) and “health hero” stock photographs have been released (Shutterstock 2020 ), and it is even being predicted that statues will be erected in their honour (Lake 2020 ).

While some HCWs have expressed appreciation for these “signs of love from the community” (Gavin 2020 , ¶26) that “help us trudge on” (Kane 2020 , ¶31), others have begun to push back against the hero narrative. In some cases, this is because they don’t see themselves as heroes, because they are simply doing what they “have always done” ( KevinMD Blog 2020 , ¶1). In other cases it is because it is they associate heroism with lack of fear—and they are afraid (Lake 2020 ; Kane 2020 ). And in other cases, it is because they see the hero narrative as a means by which the public and politicians can assuage their guilt and feign appreciation despite acting for decades in ways that actively undermine health services, failing to prepare adequately for the pandemic, and, now, failing to engage in adequate social distancing and provide HCWs with adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) (Darlow 2020 ; Miller 2020 ; Mathers and Kitchen 2020 ):

Private businesses and citizens are offering generous displays of public support for their doctors and nurses, cheering for them every evening, buying them dinner in hospital wards, and thanking them profusely for their service. But institutions, at the same time, are letting them down. (Khetpal 2020 , ¶10).

Indeed, for many HCWs, the shortage of PPE is not only seen a failure of society’s duty of care—“as if our government has condoned sending our front lines into battle without helmets or bullet-proof vests” (Guzzi 2020 , ¶4)—but also as a failure to reciprocate for the personal risks that HCWs are taking:

If health-care providers are going to risk their life, then there is a reciprocal obligation—the fairness principle —that society, employers and the hospitals keep them safe and ensure that they are fairly treated, whether they live, get sick, or die. (Kirsch 2020 , ¶21)

For some HCWs, the moral injury associated with lack of reciprocity has exacerbated their sense that they are being “bullied,” “shamed,” and “emotionally blackmailed” by hospital managers and government for demanding or allegedly misusing PPE (Child 2020 , ¶14; Hammond 2020 , ¶9). This appears particularly the case for non-physician HCWs, those from ethnic minority groups, and those working in less resourced areas, who already face disadvantages and inequities and have the sense that they are now being placed at disproportionately high risk (Covert 2020 ; Ford 2020 ). Similar concerns about reciprocity have emerged in discussions of reimbursement, with HCWs complaining about being asked to accept reduced hours or leave without pay (Maass 2020 ) and some medical students even being asked to work as “meat shields” without any pay at all (Khetpal 2020 , ¶10).

While HCWs frequently emphasize the strength of their calling to help and insist that they will push on despite the lack of PPE and other forms of reciprocity (Covert 2020 ; Guzzi 2020 ), concerns have begun to emerge that HCWs might begin to refuse to care for COVID-19 patients or leave the workforce altogether if they feel insufficiently respected and cared for (Bieman 2020 ; Jauhar 2020 ):

… a tipping point could happen with little warning. The loss of providers will come from many causes—quarantine, sickness, caring for their own family, cohorting—but it will be the creeping fear and feeling of abandonment that eats at us the most. (Kirsch 2020 , ¶31)

Indeed, there have already been cases of HCWs protesting and even striking over lack of adequate PPE and other perceived forms of mistreatment by governments or hospital administrators (Anadolu Agency 2020 ; Jeffery 2020 ).

The “Duty to Care” and its Limitations

Both the hero narrative and counter-calls for reciprocal protection reflect the major themes within the bioethics discourse on patient care during infectious disease outbreaks. This discourse focuses primarily on the moral bases of HCWs’ so called “duty to care,” including both general duties and virtues such as altruism, beneficence, non-abandonment, justice, and solidarity (Klopfenstein 2008 ; Vawter et al. 2008 ; Lowe, Hewlett, and Schonfeld 2020 ; Sawicki 2008 ) and more specific professional duties. The foundations of these specific moral duties (which, in this context, refer primarily to obligations to individuals or groups) have been variously framed in terms of HCWs’ status as healing professionals, their voluntary choice to enter risky occupations and professions, their obligation to repay society for its investment in their training and for the professional privileges they enjoy, and their special training which means that they are both the most skilled and the “safest” providers of care during infectious disease outbreaks (Clark 2005 ; Malm et al. 2008 ; Dawson 2016 ; Daniels 1991 ; Mareiniss 2008 ; Huber and Wynia 2004 ; Sawicki 2008 ).

It is, however, broadly recognized that HCWs have only a qualified duty to act during pandemics as a consequence of the magnitude of the risks that they face and the competing duties that they have to themselves, their families, and other (non-infected) patients (Bailey et al. 2008 ; Reiheld 2008 ; Malm et al. 2008 ; Sokol 2008 ; Dawson 2016 ). Many bioethicists also argue that HCWs have entered into a broad social contract that not only creates their duty to care but also places obligations on society to keep them as safe as possible and reward them for their sacrifices (Reid 2005 ; Joint Centre for Bioethics Pandemic Ethics Working Group 2008 ; Millar and Hsu 2019 ; Dawson 2016 ; Solano et al. 2015 ; Dwyer and Tsai 2008 ). In the context of COVID-19, ethicists have argued that, while there is a duty to care, this duty is context-specific (e.g., depending on the likelihood of a patient benefiting from care, the HCW’s training, and their personal health status) and holds only if there is adequate planning and reciprocity in the form of PPE, reasonable shift schedules, professional acknowledgement, financial compensation, social and psychological support, information and training, testing and monitoring, and (more controversially) protection from litigation and priority access to critical care (Schuklenk 2020 ; Dunn et al. 2020 ; Hick et al. 2020 ; British Columbia Ministry of Health 2020 ).

Beyond the Duty to Care

Such articulations of HCWs’ duties (and their limits) are important because they inform the design of systems and processes and justify limited incursions on HCWs’ choices. But there is evidence from the emerging COVID-19 discourse that abstract appeals to duty might not resonate with the intuitions that HCWs have about their reasons for doing the work they do:

… the hair stands up on the back of my neck when I hear ethicists, hospital administrators, and politicians, sitting in their safe offices, lecture me on my obligation to die providing health-care. We don’t take these risks because of an abstract “ethical duty”; we take them because it is what we do every time we walk into the chaos and danger of the emergency department. We do it because it is our job. (Kirsch 2020 , ¶18)

Another problem with appeals to duty is that they do not focus squarely enough on the moral and associated psychological conflicts that HCWs experience:

… this argument [about duty] seems to minimize the quandary my colleagues are facing as they try to balance their obligations as professionals with their duties as husbands, wives, parents and children. (Jauhar 2020 , ¶4)

While providing HCWs with PPE, assurances of care, and other act of reciprocity will no doubt go some of the way toward addressing such “quandaries,” it cannot eliminate all personal risk and, therefore, all conflict.

The question therefore arises: if moral conflict in infectious disease outbreaks cannot be completely managed—and might actually be exacerbated—by abstract appeals to a “duty to care,” how (else) might we think about and manage the moral conflicts experienced by HCWs during pandemics? In what follows, I will argue that useful lessons can be drawn from other situations in which HCWs’ obligations to their patients are in tension with personal desires or other obligations—that is, from other “role-related conflicts.”

Professional Roles and Role-Related Conflicts

Like all professionals, HCWs occupy a wide variety of roles, including those directly related to their occupation (e.g., carer, resource allocator, researcher, hospital employee, consultant, colleague, clinic owner). At the same time, HCWs also inevitably occupy a number of roles that are more peripherally related or unrelated to their healthcare work but which might impact on, or be impacted by, their HCW roles. These include being an equity holder in an external organization, an advocate for a personal belief or cause, a member of a community (e.g., recreational, political, or religious) organization and, of course, a family member, friend, and so on.

Each of the abovementioned roles and role-related activities is associated with a set of “interests.” While there is no simple agreed-upon definition of an interest, the term generally refers to the desires and obligations associated with a role or role-related activity (Komesaroff, Kerridge, and Lipworth 2019 ). Desires can be both financial and non-financial, and include the pursuit of material goods, as well as the desire to remain safe, to promote or enact one’s religious beliefs, or to achieve personal and professional status, while obligations can be to patients, healthcare systems, the general population, employers, or the research endeavour.

In most situations, interests coexist without obvious tension and may even support and reinforce each other. In these cases, one might be said to have a “duality” or “multiplicity” of interests. There are, however, situations in which acting on the desires or obligations associated with one role or role-related activity impedes one’s capacity or willingness to fulfil the obligations associated with another role. When this occurs, a “role-related conflict” (or “conflict of interest”) can be said to exist. While many role-related conflicts can be managed simply (e.g., through disclosure and recusal from particular activities) they may also sometimes be unacknowledged or difficult to manage, resulting in professional bias and harms to individuals, populations, organizations, and systems (Komesaroff, Kerridge, and Lipworth 2019 ).

When the conflict faced by HCWs during pandemics between protecting their own health and safety and providing patient care is placed in this context, it becomes clear that this is just one of many types of role-related conflicts in which interests compete or conflict. Other key examples of similar role-related conflicts include HCWs who wish to, or are expected to, consider macro resource allocation issues when caring for individual patients; HCWs who own, or hold shares in, clinics or healthcare companies; HCWs who are employed by, or consult to, private companies, government agencies, insurance companies, or patients’ employers; and HCWs who are engaged in both patient care and clinical research.

When the discourses surrounding these role-related conflicts are systematically examined, two things become evident: first, there are many different ways of thinking about the circumstances under which HCWs should, and should not, be permitted to attend to interests other than patient care (i.e., to deprioritize patient care); and second, there are many different practical strategies for managing the conflicts that arise between duties to patients and other competing desires and obligations. Many of these insights can be translated to the role-related conflicts that arise during infectious disease outbreaks.

Justifying the Deprioritization of Patient Care

As described above, the discourse surrounding the duty of HCWs to provide care during infectious disease outbreaks focuses primarily on the reasons that they might be seen to have such a duty, the factors that limit that duty, and the importance of reciprocity as part of the broad social contract in which the duty is situated. In this regard, discussions about the duties of HCWs in pandemics are no different to discussions of many other types of role-related conflicts in that these also focus squarely on the concept of duty and its qualifications. This is most obvious in discussions of conscientious objection, where HCWs’ freedom to act on their personal beliefs is challenged on the grounds that they have a duty to provide the full range of healthcare services (Curlin and Tollefsen 2019 ). The idea of duty also emerges as a counterpoint to the idea that HCWs should be free to consider macro-level resource allocation when deciding what interventions to offer their patients (Tilburt 2014 ), to recruit their own patients to clinical trials (Morain, Joffe, and Largent 2019 ), or to engage in private business activities (Humbyrd and Wynia 2019 ). All of these activities are discouraged, at least partly, on the grounds that they potentially conflict with HCWs’ (more important) duties to their patients.

While discourses about other role-related conflicts mirror the “duty to care” discourse to some extent by focusing squarely on the concept of duty, they also bring to light reasons other than duty itself for limiting HCWs’ autonomy and preventing them from acting on their competing interests. Some of these reasons are ontological—for example, it is argued that HCWs should not be free to act on their consciences because “conscience” is itself a problematic construct (Churchill 2019 ). Other reasons are epistemological—HCWs should not be free to act on competing interests because there are no sufficiently coherent grounds on which such actions can be justified and limits set (Sepper 2019 ; Tilburt 2014 ; Glover 2019 ). And others are consequentialist, the focus being on the effects of deprioritizing patient care on the image of medicine, on trust in HCWs, on patient welfare and population health, on social justice, and on the HCW–patient relationship itself (Abrams 1986 ; Sulmasy 1992 ; Magelssen, Le, and Supphellen 2019 ; Riggs and DeCamp 2014 ; Gostin 2019 ). Of course, there are complex relationships between duties and consequences, and some accounts of duty (e.g., rule deontology) position them primarily as routes to desirable consequences. But a consequentialist approach reminds us that consequences (and therefore the actions that produce them) can matter irrespective of whether a duty is believed to exist.

Focusing on the discussions that surround other kinds of role-related conflicts also reminds us that there are many factors that need to be taken into consideration when deciding whether the duty to care for patients can be overridden in a particular context . These include not only the likely benefits and risks of acting in that particular context (Riggs and DeCamp 2014 ; Wicclair 2019 ; Morain, Joffe, and Largent 2019 ), but also whether the professionals involved have (other) conflicts of interest that are driving their behaviour (Wilfond and Porter 2019 ) and whether the action is justified publicly or privately on the basis of robust moral argumentation (Nussbaum 2019 ; McConnell and Card 2019 ). Discourses about other role-related conflicts also remind us of the possibility of “role morality,” in which HCWs adhere wholeheartedly to their primary obligations when engaged in patient care but satisfy other desires and obligations at other times (Tilburt 2014 ).

Some of these insights could be, but rarely are, applied to consideration of the issues surrounding the duties of HCWs during a pandemic. For example, beyond the obvious fact that patients will be neglected if HCWs refuse to care for them, there is currently little nuanced and systematic thinking about the harms and benefits of HCWs excusing themselves (partially and completely) from different kinds of caring activities during epidemics. There is also only passing mention of the need for clear professional standards (Clark 2005 ) and public justification of decisions to abstain from patient care (Joint Centre for Bioethics Pandemic Ethics Working Group 2008 ), and it is not at all clear what these standards and justificatory principles should be. In this regard, it is noteworthy that guidelines for HCWs caring for COVID-19 patients sometimes insist on HCWs having to provide robust and specific justification for their decisions (British Columbia Ministry of Health 2020 ; General Medical Council 2020 ) but do not fully articulate what would constitute a sufficient justification. More attention could also be paid to whether there are interests other than personal safety that are driving HCWs away from patient care (e.g., unreasonable financial expectations). And thought could be given to what “role morality” might look like in an epidemic context; for example, HCWs who remove themselves from patient care could be involved in other aspects of epidemic management.

Preventing and Managing Role-Related Conflicts

In addition to enriching our thinking about the circumstances under which HCWs might be justified in deprioritizing patient care, attention to other role-related conflicts can also provide practical guidance as to the strategies that can be put in place to manage role-related conflicts such as education, psychological support, disclosure, recusal, and harm minimization. Some of these practical conflict management strategies have been used in infectious disease outbreaks and are currently being used for COVID-19 workforce management. For example, efforts are already being made to limit the burden on HCWs by minimizing community transmission. Healthcare systems are already attempting to minimize the harms of recusal by redistributing HCWs and calling on volunteers. And HCWs are already being provided with education and (in most cases) with physical, social, and psychological support.

Translating strategies from other contexts to that of infectious disease outbreaks also brings to light new policy options. For example, more attention could be paid to training of HCWs (ideally in advance of life-or-death decision-making) so that they understand the nature of, rationale for, and limits to their professional obligations during epidemics. More systematic attention could also be paid to the kinds of psychological support they need—not only to manage the usual stressors of caring for very ill patients but also the distress that comes from being uncertain about whether they want to care for their patients at all. These issues are currently only hinted at in existing psychological guidelines. For example, guidelines recently produced by the British Psychological Association Covid19 Staff Wellbeing Group ( 2020 ) refer only obliquely and in passing to the “resentment” (Table 1 in BPA document) that HCWs might experience as a result of the risks and costs to themselves and their families. Finally, central registers could track how many HCWs recuse themselves (or plan to recuse themselves) from patient care, for what reasons, and with what effects on both the workers and their colleagues and patients. This monitoring could be both quantitative and qualitative so that nuanced reasons for recusal become clear and so that tailored measures can be put in place to address specific types and causes of moral conflict. This would also facilitate the kinds of justificatory process discussed above when HCWs are asked to explain why they have chosen to excuse themselves from patient care.

It is possible that there might be some resistance to the idea of placing HCWs who experience moral conflicts during epidemics in the same category as those who have other—more morally questionable—types of “conflict of interest.” It is important, however, that this anxiety is overcome, as taking a non-exceptionalist approach to this issue—in which the dilemma associated with the “duty to care” during epidemics is viewed as just one of the many other types of role-related conflicts that HCWs experience—may provide important conceptual and practical insights. While there are ongoing debates about how we should manage all types of role-related conflict, viewing them all as instances of a single phenomenon prevents us from starting from scratch with every instantiation and enables us to learn from other, at least partly analogous, situations. Whether or not one accepts this broader framing of the problem, it is clear that referring to health workers as heroes is neither necessary nor sufficient for managing their role-related conflicts during epidemics and the notion of reciprocal social duty does not, on its own, fill the gap.

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10+ Examples of a Persuasive Essay About Covid-19
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Persuasive Essay About Covid19
Persuasive speeches about Covid-19 can provide the audience with valuable insights on how to best handle the pandemic. They can be used to advocate for specific changes in policies or simply raise awareness about the virus. Check out some examples of persuasive speeches on Covid-19:
10+ Examples of a Persuasive Essay About Covid-19
Examples of Persuasive Speeches About Covid-19. Writing a persuasive speech about anything can seem daunting. However, writing a persuasive speech about something as important as the Covid-19 pandemic doesnâ t have to be difficult. So let's explore some examples of perfectly written persuasive essays.
Persuasive narrative during the COVID-19 pandemic: Norwegian Prime
Drawing inspiration from Boin, Stern and Sundelius', work on persuasive narratives, this study shows the ways that Solberg's posts about COVID-19 exhibit all five identified frame functions.
Examining persuasive message type to encourage staying at home during
Such articles convey messages from governors, public health experts, physicians, COVID-19 patients, and residents of outbreak areas, encouraging people to stay at home. This is the first study to examine which narrator's message is most persuasive in encouraging people to do so during the COVID-19 pandemic and social lockdown.
Persuasive messaging to increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake intentions
Here we use two survey experiments to study how persuasive messaging affects COVID-19 vaccine uptake intentions. In the first experiment, we test a large number of treatment messages. One subgroup of messages draws on the idea that mass vaccination is a collective action problem and highlighting the prosocial benefit of vaccination or the ...
Persuasive Messages for Improving Adherence to COVID-19 Prevention
Persuasive appeals were manipulated using promotional flyers ostensibly distributed by the Public Health Agency of Canada. In the control condition, the flyer contained a simple list of what participants can do to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. ... Perceived COVID-19 threat was measured using four items (α=.89) adapted from previous ...
Mastering the art of persuasion during a pandemic
By. Elizabeth Svoboda. Credit: Sam Falconer. When Robb Willer looks back on the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic — when leaders still had a chance to stop the virus from bringing the world to ...
Testing persuasive messaging to encourage COVID-19 risk reduction
This paper offers three important contributions. First, we conduct a large-scale multi-message study of different messages designed to encourage COVID-19 risk reduction actions with multiple outcomes followed by a replication study of the most promising messages.
Persuasion key in encouraging people to stay home during Covid-19
Persuading people to stay at home during the Covid-19 pandemic was key and included providing them with "an accurate perception of risk and therefore, for some, increasing the personal threat they perceive," says Professor Susan Michie (UCL Psychology & Language Sciences).
Vaccine Persuasion
First, a little background: A few weeks ago, it seemed plausible that Covid-19 might be in permanent retreat, at least in communities with high vaccination rates. ... One of the most persuasive ...
Lessons learned: What makes vaccine messages persuasive
Vaccine hesitancy threatened public health's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Scientists at the University of Maryland recently reviewed 47 randomized controlled trials to determine how COVID-19 communications persuaded—or failed to persuade—people to take the vaccine. (Health Communication, 2023 DOI: 10.1080/10410236.2023.2218145).
The art of rhetoric: persuasive strategies in Biden's ...
They make the speech more persuasive as they facilitate people's understanding of abstract and ... Kashif M, Nasir H (2020) Persuasive power concerning COVID-19 employed by Premier Imran Khan: a ...
Persuasive messaging to increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake ...
Without high rates of uptake, however, the pandemic is likely to be prolonged. Here we use two survey experiments to study how persuasive messaging affects COVID-19 vaccine uptake intentions. In the first experiment, we test a large number of treatment messages. One subgroup of messages draws on the idea that mass vaccination is a collective ...
The Effect of Persuasive Messages in Promoting Home-Based Physical
Introduction. The Coronavirus (Covid-19) appeared in December 2019 in China (Wuhan) and the infection rapidly spread throughout the world. Three months later, Covid-19 became a worldwide pandemic with more than 1,728,878 cases confirmed on December 07th, 2020 and 60,078 deaths in Italy (Coronavirus Statistiques, 2020).At the beginning of the pandemic, Italy was one of the most seriously ...
2 Minute Speech on Covid-19 (CoronaVirus) for Students
The severity of Covid-19 symptoms varies widely. Symptoms aren't always present. The typical symptoms are high temperatures, a dry cough, and difficulty breathing. Covid - 19 individuals also exhibit other symptoms such as weakness, a sore throat, muscular soreness, and a diminished sense of smell and taste.
Thematic analysis using the Schwartz values theory: exploring the use
Thematic analysis using the Schwartz values theory: exploring the use of values appeals in persuasive speech during COVID-19 in Australia - Volume 15 Issue 1. Skip to main content Accessibility help We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites.
Influence of diverse kinds of persuasive messages on intention to stay
1. Introduction. COVID-19 is believed to be the deadliest pandemic round the world .This disease is highly contagious and it is transmitted rapidly and easily through symptomatic and asymptomatic carriers .The COVID-19 pandemic is believed to be the top societal challenge in recent years necessitating extensive collective action and collaboration.
Speech by Chair Powell on COVID-19 and the economy
COVID-19 and the Economy. At the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy, The Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C. (via webcast) Good morning. The challenge we face today is different in scope and character from those we have faced before. The coronavirus has spread quickly around the world, leaving a tragic and growing toll of illness ...
Persuasive Speech Outline, with Examples
Ideas for your persuasive speech outline 1. Structure of your persuasive speech. The opening and closing of speech are the most important. Consider these carefully when thinking about your persuasive speech outline. A strong opening ensures you have the audience's attention from the start and gives them a positive first impression of you.
Remarks by President Biden on the COVID-19 Response and Vaccination
Speeches and Remarks. South Court Auditorium. Eisenhower Executive Office Building. 12:54 P.M. EDT. THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon. I've just been briefed by my COVID-19 team on the progress we ...
Flattening the COVID-19 curve: Emotions mediate the effects of a
In the context of COVID-19, a persuasive message may be a text that challenges individuals' beliefs about the seriousness of the pandemic, and the importance of engaging in preventive action to protect oneself from getting it and for saving lives. ... COVID-19 in Canada: Using data and modelling to inform public health action. Avilable online ...
Coronavirus Vaccine- Persuasive Speech by Anna Alonso on Prezi
The Coronavirus Vaccine Persuasive Speech By- Anna Alonso Paragraph 1 The Coronavirus Vaccination. A solution to something we have been dealing with for a year and three months. In this large period of time, there were many different, but necessary, changes to millions of lives.
Beyond Duty: Medical "Heroes" and the COVID-19 Pandemic
Almost as soon as the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, a narrative about healthcare "heroes" appeared in the popular media. According to this narrative, healthcare workers (HCWs) are marching to the "frontline" in the "war" (McMillan 2020, ¶2) against the virus and, in doing so, are putting themselves at considerable risk.These "heroic" HCWs have since been the subject of ...

How to Write a Persuasive Essay About Covid19 | Examples & Tips

Steps to Write a Persuasive Essay About Covid-19

Step 1: Choose a Specific Thesis Statement

Step 2: Research and Gather Information

Step 3: Outline Your Essay

Step 4: Write the Introduction

Step 5: Provide Background Information

Step 6: Develop Body Paragraphs

Step 7: Address Counterarguments

Step 8: Write the Conclusion

Step 9: Revise and Proofread

Step 10: Cite Your Sources

Examples of Persuasive Essay About Covid19

Examples of Persuasive Essay About Covid-19 Vaccine

Examples of Persuasive Essay About Covid-19 Integration

Examples of Argumentative Essay About Covid 19

Examples of Persuasive Speeches About Covid-19

Tips to Write a Persuasive Essay About Covid-19

Choose a Specific Angle

Provide Credible Sources

Use Persuasive Language

Organize Your Essay

Emphasize Benefits

Use Visuals -H3

Call to Action

Revise and Edit

Seek Feedback

Common Topics for a Persuasive Essay on COVID-19

Frequently Asked Questions

What impact does COVID-19 have on society?

Keep reading

Top Examples of Persuasive Essay about Covid-19

Examples of Persuasive Essay About Covid-19

Examples of Persuasive Essay About the Covid-19 Vaccine

Examples of Persuasive Essay About Covid-19 Integration

Examples of Argumentative Essay About Covid-19

Examples of Persuasive Speeches About Covid-19

Tips to Write a Persuasive Essay

Frequently Asked Questions

What are good topics for persuasive essays?

What impact does COVID-19 have on society?

Keep reading

Testing persuasive messaging to encourage COVID-19 risk reduction

Social norms and health behaviors

Self-interest vs. prosocial concern for social distancing

Individual action vs. collective action

Values reframing

The present experiments

Experiment 1

Study sample

Experiment 2

General discussion

Supporting information

S2 Appendix. Regression results for Fig 1 and distribution of outcomes for Experiment 1.

S3 Appendix. Subgroup analyses for Experiment 1.

S4 Appendix. Experiment 2 outcome measures.

S5 Appendix. Regression results for Figs 2 and 3 and distribution of outcomes for Experiment 2.

S6 Appendix. Liberty endorsement subgroup analysis for Experiment 2.

Persuasion key in encouraging people to stay home during Covid-19

Vaccine Persuasion

The three themes

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Introduction