Publications [#377037] of Gregory R. Samanez-Larkin

Journal Articles

1. Sinclair, AH; Taylor, MK; Davidson, A; Weitz, JS; Beckett, SJ; Samanez-Larkin, GR (2024). Scenario-Based Messages on Social Media Motivate COVID-19 Information Seeking.. Journal of applied research in memory and cognition, 13(1), 124-135. [doi]
   (last updated on 2025/06/16)

   Abstract:
   Communicating information about health risks empowers individuals to make informed decisions. To identify effective communication strategies, we manipulated the specificity, self-relevance, and emotional framing of messages designed to motivate information seeking about COVID-19 exposure risk. In Study 1 (N=221,829), we conducted a large-scale social media field study. Using Facebook advertisements, we targeted users by age and political attitudes. Episodic specificity drove engagement: Advertisements that contextualized risk in specific scenarios produced the highest click-through rates, across all demographic groups. In Study 2, we replicated and extended our findings in an online experiment (N=4,233). Message specificity (but not self-relevance or emotional valence) drove interest in learning about COVID-19 risks. Across both studies, we found that older adults and liberals were more interested in learning about COVID-19 risks. However, message specificity increased engagement across demographic groups. Overall, evoking specific scenarios motivated information seeking about COVID-19, facilitating risk communication to a broad audience.