On the Relationship between Skepticism towards and Reactance to Health Messages: The Special Case of Online Communication on Tick-Borne Encephalitis

In general, health communication messages intend to change individuals’ behaviors, applying both cognitive reasoning and increasingly personal accounts to achieve these changes. Nonetheless, against the background of increasing skepticism towards scientific findings and patronizing message claims, health messages fail to achieve their intended results. By use of a quantitative survey with Austrian respondents (n = 271), the study at hand intends to uncover individuals’ level of skepticism towards Tick-Borne Encephalitis (TBE) as well as their evaluations of online vaccination-related information on TBE. Moreover, as skepticism is likely to lead individuals to reject health message content altogether, we also test for the relationship between skepticism and reactance. Results indicate that there is only a marginal relationship between the two variables in the TBE communication context. For this reason, other variables might have to be included in future research to derive more comprehensive results and recommendations. Since skepticism has proven to be of lesser importance in TBE message reception, government or health officials are recommended to prioritize additional constructs, such as trust, which can be elevated through more affective communication

Health and Scientific Frames in Online Communication of Tick-Borne Encephalitis: Antecedents of Frame Recognition

In a period characterized by vaccine hesitancy and even vaccine refusal, the way online information on vaccination is presented might affect the recipients’ opinions and attitudes. While research has focused more on vaccinations against measles or influenza, and described how the framing approach can be applied to vaccination, this is not the case with tick-borne encephalitis, a potentially fatal infection induced by tick bites. This study takes one step back and seeks to investigate whether health and scientific frames in online communication are even recognized by the public. Moreover, the influence of selected health- and vaccine-related constructs on the recognition of frames is examined. Study results indicate that health frames are the most easily identified and that their use might be a fruitful strategy when raising awareness of health topics such as vaccination

Risk Communication in the Age of COVID-19

Literature describes a pandemic as a unique form of health crisis, which requires intensive communicative efforts. The government is a key actor in such situations for it is not only particularly trusted to manage a crisis, but also can obtain compliance on part of the affected population. Scholars agree that health messages are important tools to create awareness for the (health) threat. Particularly during health emergencies, information on which preventive measures should be taken is most valuable. With measures often concerning “disruptive actions”, messages must be carefully crafted to counteract negative emotions and controversial arguments. The present chapter presents a checklist for successful campaign design in health risk situations by paying specific attention to COVID-19. To this end, we conduct an extensive literature review and highlight how scientific information should be presented, as well as which message appeals and design features should be utilized to provide the population with targeted and timely information. This is essential against decreasing health literacy rates, which have to be considered in the message design process. To illustrate our case, we will refer to selected national health campaigns which were successfully utilized to manage the risk associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The chapter will conclude with some limitations and directions for future research

Welche Form der Unterstützung bieten Mental Health Influencer:innen auf Instagram an? Ergebnisse einer Inhaltsanalyse

Während der COVID-19-Pandemie wurden vermehrt psychische Erkrankungen gemeldet, die besonders Jugendliche und junge Erwachsene betrafen. Folglich suchten diese verstärkt Unterstützung in den sozialen Medien, wo sie auf Posts von sogenannten Mental Health Influencer:innen (MHIs) trafen, die ihren Follower:innen Unterstützung (social support) bei der Bewältigung von mentalen Problemen anbieten. Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht, wie MHIs Inhalte zu psychischen Erkrankungen auf Instagram präsentieren und welche Form von Unterstützung sie ihren Follower:innen anbieten. Um diese Fragen zu beantworten, wurde eine quantitative Inhaltsanalyse ausgewählter Instagram-Posts durchgeführt. Insgesamt wurden Beiträge von 40 Mental Health Influencer:innen ausgewählt. Die Inhaltsanalyse einer Zufallsstichprobe (n=268) zeigte, dass die meisten MHIs auf Bilder und nicht auf Videos setzen, wenn sie mentale Gesundheit thematisieren. Der Großteil der Posts enthielt Textpassagen, und wurde von MHIs dazu verwendet, um ihre Follower:innen entweder zu motivieren oder ihnen Informationen zu liefern. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass MHIs besonders auf Textelemente setzen um ihre Follower:innen zu unterstützen, obwohl Instagram eigentlich eine bildbasierte Plattform darstellt.Incidents of mental health problems have increased, especially during COVID-19-pandemic. For this reason, adolescents and young adults looked for support on social media, where they encountered posts by so-called mental health influencers (MHIs), who, for example, offer their followers (social) support in dealing with their mental problems on Instagram. This study examines how MHIs present mental health content on Instagram and which form of support they offer their followers. To this end, a quantitative content analysis of selected Instagram posts was conducted. A total of 40 mental health influencer accounts were selected for the analysis. The content analysis of a random sample (n=268) showed that most mental health influencers used images and not videos when addressing mental health issues. Most of the posts contained text passages, and were used by MHIs to either motivate or provide information to their followers. Results indicate that even though Instagram is an image-based platform, MHIs predominantly used textual elements to support their followers

Ich, du, wir? Empowerment als relevantes Konstrukt im Gesundheitskontext

Ein wichtiges Ziel der Gesundheitskommunikation ist das Empowerment von Individuen durch die Bereitstellung von Information, sowie deren Beeinflussung von und Einbindung in Gesundheitsentscheidungen. Dabei wird das Empowerment-Konzept oft aus der individuellen Perspektive betrachtet. Diese Perspektive vernachlässigt aber die Multidimensionalität und Vielschichtigkeit des Konzepts, denn individuelles Empowerment stellt bspw. auch eine wichtige Voraussetzung für Gruppenempowerment oder kollektives Empowerment dar, da Einzelpersonen immer auch Mitglieder verschiedenster Gruppen sind. Dieser Aspekt soll daher im vorliegenden Beitrag vertiefend thematisiert werden. Dafür möchten wir die Ergebnisse einer systematischen Literaturrecherche von Studien aus den letzten 20 Jahren vorstellen, die sich mit dem Konzept von Empowerment im Bereich der Gesundheitskommunikation befassen. Die Ergebnisse unseres Reviews zeigen auf, dass einige allgemeinere Begriffsdefinitionen nach wie vor verwendet werden, jedoch auch eine Tendenz zu spezielleren Definitionen erkennbar ist. Brücken zu neueren Konzepten, wie health literacy oder digitalen Medien stellen noch nicht die Norm dar. Zudem wird auch der Zusammenhang zwischen individuellem und kollektiven Empowerment häufig vernachlässigt.The goals of health communication are diverse and focus on providing information in order to empower individuals and grant them an increased say in health-related decisions. The concept of empowerment is often viewed from the individual perspective, neglecting the multidimensionality and complexity of the concept. Individual empowerment must also be seen as a prerequisite for group or collective empowerment, since individuals are members of diverse groups. This aspect will be addressed in the contribution at hand. In this article we will present the results of a systematic literature review of studies published in the last 20 years, which are dedicated towards the concept of empowerment in the field of health communication. The results of our review show that some general definitions are still used, but there is also a tendency towards more specific definitions. Bridges to newer concepts such as health literacy or digital technologies do not yet present the norm. Additionally, the link between individual and collective empowerment is often neglected

Convergence in Media Education Curricula

[EN] The paper intends to investigate current university degree programs in numerous European countries and compare them with offerings in the United States with regard to their suitability to contemporary workplace requirements in the age of convergence. Recent trends in convergence, defined as the merging and growing together of previously distinct industrial branches, professions, devices and skills (Jenkins, 2008) have changed and dramatically transformed the ways people communicate as well as interact with each another. As a consequence, academic and professional representatives are asked to respond to these far-reaching alterations in varying ways. By use of an extensive content analysis, our study intends to analyze to which degree universities in Europe and the United States have started to already offer adequate programs on different educational levels (Bachelor, Master and PhD) in an attempt to provide the kind of media education needed today and in the future. The paper takes a closer look at educational trainings and degree programs offered by post-secondary institutions throughout the world, scrutinizing whether convergence and related terms such as multimedia and cross-media have already managed to gain an (academic) foothold yetKarmasin, M.; Diehl, S.; Koinig, I. (2015). Convergence in Media Education Curricula. En 1ST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON HIGHER EDUCATION ADVANCES (HEAD' 15). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 150-157. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAd15.2015.30315015

“Where There Is Light, There Is Also Darkness”: Discussing Young Adults’ Willingness to Disclose Data to Use Wearables and Health Applications—Results from a Focus Group Study

In recent years, the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) has gained momentum. This development has only been intensified by the current COVID-19 crisis, which promotes the development of applications that can help stop the virus from spreading by monitoring people’s movements and their social contacts. At the same time, it has become increasingly difficult for individuals to control the use of their private data by commercial companies. While Internet users claim to be highly interested in protecting their privacy, their behaviors indicate otherwise. This phenomenon is discussed in literature as the so-called privacy paradox. The existence of the privacy paradox has also been confirmed by previous studies, which found individuals’ claims and actions to contradict one another. The present study investigates the following research questions: (1) What significance do individuals attribute to protecting their privacy, with a special focus on the health sector? (2) To what extent are they willing to grant commercial parties access to their data in order to use applications in general and health applications in particular? Results from seven focus groups with 40 respondents aged 20–30 years were conducted in an urban setting in Austria in late 2019. The respondents’ inputs are meant to provide answers to these questions. The results indicate that, overall, the young generation is well-informed about the growing data collection and is quite critical of it. As such, their willingness to share information in the health context is only moderately pronounced. Thus, only a moderately pronounced privacy paradox can be detected for the health sector when compared to other sectors. In conclusion, implications and directions for further research are addressed

Healthy Leadership and Workplace Health Promotion as a Pre-Requisite for Organizational Health

(1) Background: Increasing stress levels at the workplace constitute a concerning organizational trend, challenging not only employees but also organizations alike, as it is in most instances associated with increasing workloads. In consequence, employees have started to demand that organizations begin to accept responsibility for their health and well-being. The present contribution seeks to investigate, to which extent individuals are able to deal with stress and whether their employers and respective supervisors (leaders) accept responsibility for their health, for instance, by leading by example. In addition, the existence and support generated by the organization in form of Workplace Health Promotion (WPHP) is inquired. (2) Methods: Semi-structured qualitative interviews with 40 (full and part-time) employees from two European countries were conducted. (3) Results: The study with employees from Austria and Germany (n = 40) confirmed that employees have started to recognize the potential of the workplace as an environment, where individual health can be enhanced. Yet, the results showed that only a few companies have already put some WPHP measures into practice. Likewise, the implementation of healthy leadership is rather limited to date. (4) Conclusions: At present, companies are still more likely to delegate responsibility for employee health and well-being to their staff, having not fully realized the potential of healthy leadership and organizational health promotion. There is great potential to increase WPHP measures on the employer side, through both healthy leadership and supporting WPHP measures

Pharmaceutical advertising as a source of consumer empowerment : evidence from a cross-cultural study

Arzneimittelhersteller bewerben ihre Produkte zumeist mithilfe von informativen Werbeanzeigen, die Produkte sowie deren Spezifika und Wirkungsweisen hervorheben (Koinig, 2012). Die vorliegende kulturvergleichende Analyse mÃchte herausfinden, wie eine standardisierte Werbeanzeige fÃr ein fiktives nicht-verschreibungspflichtiges (OTC) Medikament von KonsumtentInnen in vier verschiedenen LÃ$ndern (Ãsterreich, Deutschland, den USA und Brasilien) wahrgenommen wird respektive inwieweit diese die MitwirkungsmÃglichkeiten von RezipientInnen erhÃht (Stichwort: Consumer Self-Empowerment). Die vorliegende Dissertation baut auf bestehenden Forschungen auf, welche die Dominanz von informativen Werbeappellen bestÃ$tigt hat (Koinig und Diehl, 2013). Dieser Arbeit liegt somit auch die Annahme zugrunde, dass informative Werbungen fÃr OTC-Produkte nicht nur am ansprechendsten wahrgenommen werden, sondern KonsumentInnen auch bilden und ihnen ermÃglichen, qualifizierte Kaufentscheidungen zu treffen; gleichzeitig werden diese in ihren eigenen FÃ$higkeiten bestÃ$rkt. Eine auf drei Kontinenten durchgefÃhrte Feldstudie (967 ProbandInnen; non-student Auswahl) lieferte aber ein etwas anderes Ergebnis: laut Erhebung werden gemischte Positionierungen (die informative mit emotionalen Elementen verbinden) als die effektivste Variante fÃr Pharma-Werbetreibende angesehen, sowohl in Bezug auf Anzeigenbewertungen als auch Consumer Self-Empowerment. GrÃnde fÃr die vorteilhaften Bewertungen dieser Anzeige lassen sich wahrscheinlich darauf zurÃckfÃhren, dass neben (hilfreicher) Produktinformation auch das erstrebenswerte Endresultat gezeigt wird, welche positive Reaktionen in KonsumentInnen weckt. Somit stellt die gemischte Werbeanzeigen das ideale Beispiel fÃr eine standardisierte, interkulturelle Werbekampagne dar. Die Beziehungen der einzelnen Variablen werden anhand eines Modells dargstellt und getestet. AbschlieÃend werden Limitationen und zukÃnftige Forschungspotentiale angefÃhrt.Informative advertisements dominate the present-day pharmaceutical promotions landscape (Koinig, 2012). This cross-cultural investigation examines how a standardized promotional message for a fictitious over-the-counter (OTC) medication is perceived by consumers in four different countries (Austria, Germany, the U.S., and Brazil), and the degree to which it contributes to their self-empowerment. Building on previous research (Koinig and Diehl, 2013), informative appeals were expected to not only be most appealing, but also to aid consumers in making qualified and reasonable decisions, educating and "empowering" them by strengthening their beliefs in their own capabilities. However, a field study on three continents (967 subjects; non-student sample) revealed mixed promotional messages (incorporating both informational and emotional appeals) to be most effective with regard to both ad evaluation and empowerment. Reasons for this appeal's favorable evaluation might lie in the fact that in addition to product information, such ads portrayed a desirable end result, which might in turn trigger positive responses, thereby making this appeal the frontrunner for utilization in standardized cross-cultural marketing campaigns. The relations amongst the different variables are conceptualized as a model, which will be put to the test. Study limitations are addressed and implications for further research are provided.MMag. Isabell KoinigZusammenfassung in deutscher SpracheAlpen Adria Universität Klagenfurt, Dissertation, 2015OeBB(VLID)241533