Vacation posts on Facebook:A model for incidental vicarious travel consumption

Vicarious consumption of travel is ubiquitous. However little is known about the psychological processes this initiates or the potential for resultant behaviors beyond direct steps toward patronage. We address this gap through developing and testing the incidental vicarious travel consumption model (IVTCM), which draws from well-established knowledge of the self-concept and compensatory consumption. In the context of vicariously consuming idyllic vacation posts on Facebook, the model identifies the following: individuals’ travel-related self-discrepancies may become active, leading to feelings of dejection, initiating five possible compensatory consumption behaviors (Direct, Symbolic, Dissociation, Escapism, Fluid). A sequential mixed-method design (total n=860) provides support for the IVTCM. The primary contributions of the paper are as follows: first the IVTCM can be used to understand different forms of vicarious travel consumption. Second, specific understanding on the impact of idyllic vacation posts is contributed, furthering knowledge on the role of social media within touris

The COVID-19 vaccine communication handbook. A practical guide for improving vaccine communication and fighting misinformation

This handbook is for journalists, doctors, nurses, policy makers, researchers, teachers, students, parents – in short, it’s for everyone who wants to know more: About the COVID-19 vaccines; How to talk to others about them; How to challenge misinformation about the vaccines.Published versio

A Multi-Dimensional Approach to Measuring News Media Literacy

Measuring news media literacy is important in order for it to thrive in a variety of educational and civic contexts. This research builds on existing measures of news media literacy and two new scales are presented that measure self-perceived media literacy (SPML) and perceptions of the value of media literacy (VML). Research with a larger sample of college undergraduate students and a smaller sample of adults enabled the validation of these measures. Results confirm the value of conceptualizing news media literacy using the theoretical subcomponents of authors & audiences, messages & meaning, and representation & realities. The VML scale, in particular, proved especially consequential in predicting knowledge about and attitudes towards the media

Does Engagement in Advocacy Hurt the Credibility of Scientists? Results from a Randomized National Survey Experiment

<p>It is often assumed that issue advocacy will compromise the credibility of scientists. We conducted a randomized controlled experiment to test public reactions to six different advocacy statements made by a scientist—ranging from a purely informational statement to an endorsement of specific policies. We found that perceived credibility of the communicating scientist was uniformly high in five of the six message conditions, suffering only when he advocated for a specific policy—building more nuclear power plants (although credibility did not suffer when advocating for a different specific policy—carbon dioxide limits at power plants). We also found no significant differences in trust in the broader climate science community between the six message conditions. Our results suggest that climate scientists who wish to engage in certain forms of advocacy have considerable latitude to do so without risking harm to their credibility, or the credibility of the scientific community.</p