The Effects of Information on Policy and Consumer Behavior Beliefs During a Pandemic

Abstract

It is well documented that policy and behavioral responses to the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic have become politically polarized in the United States. We test whether some of these differences may be the result of varying exposure to information using a nationally representative sample of 5,009 U.S. adults who were randomly exposed to brief text-based segments of information. The segments are all fact-based and were chosen to convey reassuring or alarming news about the pandemic and the potential safety of certain behaviors. First, we document new facts about dispersion in policy preferences, consumer behavior, media diet, and information sources by political affiliation. Second, we quantify how the provision of information affects COVID-19 policy preferences and consumer behavior. The baseline effects are large and remain so after adding extensive controls, including respondent numeracy. We also show that these results largely do not vary by political party nor the political orientation of the news diet. These findings suggest partisan policy and behavioral gaps are driven, at least in part, by exposure to different and often low-quality information.