Abstract
BackgroundThe recent COVID-19 pandemic has seen an explosion of coronavirus-related information. In many cases, this information was supported by images representing the SARS-CoV-2.AimTo evaluate how attributes of images representing the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that were used in the initial phase of the coronavirus crisis in 2020 influenced the public’s perceptions.MethodsWe have carried out an in-depth survey using 46 coronavirus images, asking individuals how beautiful, scientific, realistic, infectious, scary and didactic they appeared to be.ResultsWe collected 91,908 responses, obtaining 15,315 associations for each category. While the reference image of SARS-CoV-2 used in the media is a three-dimensional, colour, illustration, we found that illustrations of the coronavirus were perceived as beautiful but not very realistic, scientific or didactic. By contrast, black and white coronavirus images are thought to be the opposite. The beauty of coronavirus images was negatively correlated with the perception of scientific realism and didactic value.ConclusionGiven these effects and the consequences on the individual’s perception, it is important to evaluate the influence that different images of SARS-CoV-2 may have on the population.
Highlights
While the reference image of SARS-CoV-2 used in the media is a three-dimensional, colour, illustration, we found that illustrations of the coronavirus were perceived as beautiful but not very realistic, scientific or didactic
Given these effects and the consequences on the individual’s perception, it is important to evaluate the influence that different images of SARS-CoV-2 may have on the population
The COVID-19 pandemic provoked by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has increased the delivery of scientific information to the public at large, adding pressure on media channels to ensure that the information provided is correctly interpreted [1]
Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic provoked by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has increased the delivery of scientific information to the public at large, adding pressure on media channels to ensure that the information provided is correctly interpreted [1]. The information related to this crisis was supported by images representing the coronavirus [5]. The first real image of the coronavirus, in black and white, was published by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CCDC) on January 24th, 2020 [6]. On January 30th, 2020, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in the USA (CDC) published the first publicdomain model of the SARS-CoV-2 designed in 3D, a reasonably scientific reconstruction of the morphology of the coronavirus [9] (Fig 1). The recent COVID-19 pandemic has seen an explosion of coronavirus-related information. In many cases, this information was supported by images representing the SARS-CoV-2
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