Communication Messages Research Articles

Understanding Risk Communication Through a Postcolonial Theory Perspective: Lessons from Three Studies on COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy

AbstractThis article uses postcolonial theory to examine optimal risk communication practices of new risks and scientific information to non-indigenous communities. The article calls on risk communication scholars and health practitioners to embrace postcolonial theory as it provides a critical and reflective framework to examine ontological beliefs and methodological and structural aspects in the communication of public health messages. The article draws on insight from three studies on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy within Scotland’s African, Caribbean, and Black communities between March 2021 and April 2022. The article offers new insight into why some communities hesitate to respond to public health messages such as vaccine uptake advice. Therefore, risk communication scholars should use the postcolonial lens to examine their assumptions, thinking, and perspectives on communicating new science and risk information in emergencies. Postcolonial theory enables risk communication scholars to address power imbalances, representation, and inclusion challenges in public health communication and trust-building efforts.

Towards a Homophilous Communication of Messages on Healthy Eating Habits to the Men in Rural Villages of Botswana

Towards a Homophilous Communication of Messages on Healthy Eating Habits to the Men in Rural Villages of Botswana

Stressors for farmworker parents during wildfire season

BackgroundThe severity of wildfire seasons amplify stressors that farmworker families in the Pacific Northwest face as they balance childcare, work, and personal wellbeing. A lack of safe and attainable childcare has been a challenge for farmworker parents since before the Covid-19 pandemic and is of particular concern during wildfire season when parents must weigh the risks and benefits of leaving children at home, taking them to work, or sending them to childcare. This study describes how stressors of balancing childcare, work, and concerns about children’s exposure to smoke during wildfire season impact the wellbeing and workplace absenteeism and presenteeism for farmworker parents.MethodsTo understand the impact of this balancing act on farmworker parents, researchers from the University of Washington partnered with Wenatchee’s Community for the Advancement of Family Education to conduct interviews with 20 farmworker parents, and co-host two town hall discussion meetings within the community.ResultsSix qualitative themes emerged from our interviews including that farmworker parents feel both ill-prepared at home to protect their families, and also do not feel as though they are being provided with adequate resources at work to protect their own personal health. Through the town hall events, we learned that verbal messaging and storytelling are effective and appreciated routes of communication.ConclusionsOverall, we found that messaging and effective communication around how to prepare for the worsening levels of smoke is lacking among the farmworker community. Future research will address the messaging and communication gaps that must be filled to protect the health of both workers and their families during smoke season and beyond.

The cost-effectiveness of a cash-based transfer, specialised nutritious food, and social and behaviour change communication intervention package to prevent undernutrition among children 6-23 months in Pakistan: A cluster randomised controlled trial.

There is mixed evidence on the cost-effectiveness of cash transfers, along with food supplements and behaviour change communication interventions in improving child nutrition outcomes. To add to existing literature, we examined the cost-effectiveness of medium-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplement (LNS) and social and behaviour change communication (SBCC) messaging, separately and combined, compared to an existing unconditional cash transfers (UCT) programme in children 6-23 months of age in the district Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan. This was a four-arm, community-based cluster randomised controlled trial. The UCT provided a quarterly sum of USD 32, the medium-quantity LNS contained a daily ration of 50 g of LNS, and the SBCC included monthly and quarterly messaging on nutrition, health, and hygiene to eligible households. Cost data were collected from a provider perspective through the review of procurement invoices and budgets, as well as interviews with stakeholders. We examined cost-effectiveness via statistically significant differences between the intervention and control arms, and estimated as cost per case of stunting, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) averted at six and 18 months of intervention. Costs were higher for SBCC intervention combinations (UCT + SBCC and UCT + LNS + SBCC) due to high training costs for lady health workers. UCT + LNS achieved a reduction in stunting at a per-case cost of USDS 278.74 at six months and USD 897.15 at 18 months. UCT + LNS + SBCC achieved a reduction in stunting at per case cost of USD 846.48 at six months and USD 2324.58 at 18 months. The cost per DALYs averted for preventing stunting was USD 234 to USD 557.42 at six months, and USD 787.73 to USD 1537 at 18 months without discounting and age-weights. Although the affordability of such interventions is arguable, combining UCTs with LNS appears to be very cost-effective for reducing undernutrition and averting DALYs, while combining cash transfers with LNS and SBCC showed limited cost-effectiveness when targeting stunting. Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT03299218.

Preservice Teachers’ Visions and Understandings of Classroom Documentation and Displays of Children’s Work in Elementary Schools

AbstractAt present, research exploring educator’s understandings of displays of student work is scant yet such displays are regularly exhibited within the community spaces of early learning and elementary schools. These displays communicate messages to those within the space about teacher and student agency, curricular priorities, children and their work, and the relationship between teaching and learning. Grounded in a framework of documentality and teacher vision, this paper explores the ways in which preservice teachers (PSTs) understand teacher-cultivated, student work documentation. This research used a Photo-Elicitation Interview methodology to develop a descriptive account of PSTs' visions and understandings of teacher-cultivated, classroom documentation and displays of children's work. Findings reveal that PSTs held paradoxical views of student work documentation teetering between an appreciation of an adult-centered aesthetic disconnected from their academic and creative capacities to an expressed valuing of an agentic positioning of children in the experiences of the classroom.

Online Interactive through Branded Entertainment Games as Marketing Communication Activities in the Digital Era

One-way advertising messages no longer get the attention of the entire audience because of the presence of new technology. Human tendency to reject the message of advertising because his presence appears in the middle of the fun that is being done. Marketers need to think of new ways to keep advertising by getting into the excitement, creating interactions, and spreading messages in an integrated way. Online interactive with the concept of branded entertainment games becomes an effort by marketers to make targets become captive audiences. This research is a qualitative study with an analysis of literature study discourse on online interaction and branding studies. The need for the process of Analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation through the concept of ADDIE in interactive online activities through branded entertainment games. The integration of messages needs to be reflected in the product, namely the games themselves, the design of the integration of marketing communication messages and the integration of messages in online interactive. The integration of messages is necessary to make the audience will receive the same message so that it is easy to recognize the brand through marketing communication activities. Marketers need to evaluate each of their marketing activities because digital conditions are fast becoming obsolete with the presence of a newness that appears. Key Word: Branded Entertainment, Game, Digital Marketing, Marketing Communications, Online Interactive

Multifaceted implementation strategy to improve the evaluation of penicillin allergies in perioperative patients: a pre-post feasibility implementation study.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encourages nurses to evaluate penicillin allergies as part of hospital-based antibiotic stewardship programs. We evaluated the feasibility of an implementation strategy to improve nurses' comprehensive documentation of penicillin allergies. We defined feasibility as the uptake and acceptability of documentation procedures. Six-month pre-post feasibility implementation study. Outpatient surgical areas of an academic medical center located in the U.S. The implementation strategy was guided by the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation Model for Behavior Change and included, building an interdisciplinary coalition to iteratively evaluate the implementation effort, educational meetings with surgical prescribers and perioperative nurses, the development and distribution of educational pocket cards, and structured communication messages in the electronic medical record. A total of 426 patients with 487 penicillin allergy records (216 records pre-implementation period, 271 records post-implementation period) were analyzed. Penicillin allergy documentation contained the following information in the pre- versus post-implementation period: symptoms of the reaction (87% vs 87%), timing/years since reaction (8% vs 26%), onset of reaction in relation to taking penicillin (0% vs 21%), how symptoms resolved (0% vs 21%), and penicillin re-exposure (3% vs 21%). Focus groups revealed nurses perceived documentation procedures as highly acceptable. Major drivers of acceptability included the perceived effectiveness of a detailed allergy history and self-efficacy in conducting a detailed allergy history. Nurses perceived the comprehensive documentation of penicillin allergy history intervention as acceptable, and uptake improved following a theory-informed implementation strategy. We offer implementation strategy components to facilitate nurses' engagement in penicillin allergy evaluation.

Characterization of polarized scientific digital messages: a scoping review

This scoping review elucidated the characteristics of polarized scientific digital messages credited by researchers for studying the impact of content on people's perceptions. Inclusion criteria encompassed discourse and content analysis studies examining the syntactic and lexical features of polarized messages in online science communication, as well as crossover and randomized information intervention studies. Studies without sufficient detail for data extraction or that did not address message characteristics were excluded. After these exclusions, 10 studies were evaluated for the outcomes. Characteristics of polarized messages were observed to include topic dependency, single viewpoint, discredit of opposing views, emphasis on the minority and flaws of concurrent discourses, and uses of assertive statements, intensifiers, controversy, partisanship, skepticism, sarcasm, vague lexicons, and expert opinion support. As a result, we propose a system of codification for identifying and characterizing polarized discourses in science communication digital messages that can be employed in further content analysis studies.

The Rise of Fake Reviews: Toward a Marketing-Oriented Framework for Understanding Fake Reviews

Reviews have become an essential part of consumer decision-making. However, the rise in fake reviews can lead consumers astray and provide misleading information to sell more products or harm competing brands. This study systematically analyzes 229 studies on fake reviews using structural topic modeling. The study outlines the antecedents, decisions, and outcomes (ADO) of fake reviews in marketing and summarizes the theories, contexts, and methods (TCM) used by research in this domain. Additionally, the study integrates the sender, message, channel, and receiver (SMCR) communication model with dual-factor theory to propose a comprehensive framework that categorizes marketing factors that contribute to or inhibit the creation and transmission of fake reviews along with their marketing implications. Finally, the study outlines opportunities for further research and provides equivalent recommendations for marketers and marketing researchers to deal with fake reviews.

Prediction of the Infrared Absorbance Intensities and Frequencies of Hydrocarbons: A Message Passing Neural Network Approach.

Accurately and efficiently predicting the infrared (IR) spectra of a molecule can provide insights into the structure-properties relationships of molecular species, which has led to a proliferation of machine learning tools designed for this purpose. However, earlier studies have focused primarily on obtaining normalized IR spectra, which limits their potential for a comprehensive analysis of molecular behavior in the IR range. For instance, to fully understand and predict the optical properties, such as the transparency characteristics, it is necessary to predict the molar absorptivity IR spectra instead. Here, we propose a graph-based communicative message passing neural network algorithm that can predict both the peak positions and absolute intensities corresponding to density functional theory calculated molar absorptivities in the IR domain. By modifying existing spectral loss functions, we show that our method is able to predict with DFT-accuracy level the IR molar absorptivities of a series of hydrocarbons containing up to ten carbon atoms and apply the model to a set of larger molecules. We also compare the predicted spectra with those generated by the direct message passing neural network. The results suggest that both algorithms demonstrate similar predictive capabilities for hydrocarbons, indicating that either model could be effectively used in future research on spectral prediction for such systems.

EHealth Communication Intervention to Promote Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Among Middle-School Girls: Development and Usability Study.

As the age of initiating sexual intercourse has gradually decreased among South Korean adolescents, earlier vaccination of adolescents for human papillomavirus (HPV) is necessary before their exposure to HPV. Health communication includes "cues to action" that lead to preventive health behaviors, and recently, social networking services, which operate with fewer time and space constraints, have been used in various studies as a form of eHealth communication. This study aims to investigate the feasibility and usability of an eHealth communication intervention for HPV vaccination in middle-school girls aimed at the girls and their mothers. The eHealth communication intervention for HPV vaccination was developed using a 6-step intervention mapping process: needs assessments, setting program outcomes, selection of a theory-based method and practical strategies, development of the intervention, implementation plan, and testing the validity of the intervention. A review of 10 studies identified effective health communication messages, delivery methods, and theories for HPV vaccination among adolescents. Barriers including low knowledge, perceived threat, and the inconvenience of taking 2 doses of the vaccine were identified through focus groups, suggesting a need for youth-friendly and easy-to-understand information for adolescents delivered via mobile phones. The expected outcomes and the performance objectives are specifically tailored to reflect the vaccination intention. Behavior change techniques were applied using trusted sources and a health belief model. Health messages delivered through a KakaoTalk chatbot improved awareness and self-efficacy. Quality control was ensured with the use of a log system. The experts' chatbot usability average score was 80.13 (SD 8.15) and the average score of girls was 84.06 (SD 7.61). Future studies need to verify the effectiveness of health communication strategies in promoting HPV vaccination and the effectiveness of scientific intervention using a chatbot as a delivery method for the intervention.

A Flexible Smart Healthcare Platform Conjugated with Artificial Epidermis Assembled by Three-Dimensionally Conductive MOF Network for Gas and Pressure Sensing

The rising flexible and intelligent electronics greatly facilitate the noninvasive and timely tracking of physiological information in telemedicine healthcare. Meticulously building bionic-sensitive moieties is vital for designing efficient electronic skin with advanced cognitive functionalities to pluralistically capture external stimuli. However, realistic mimesis, both in the skin’s three-dimensional interlocked hierarchical structures and synchronous encoding multistimuli information capacities, remains a challenging yet vital need for simplifying the design of flexible logic circuits. Herein, we construct an artificial epidermal device by in situ growing Cu3(HHTP)2 particles onto the hollow spherical Ti3C2Tx surface, aiming to concurrently emulate the spinous and granular layers of the skin’s epidermis. The bionic Ti3C2Tx@Cu3(HHTP)2 exhibits independent NO2 and pressure response, as well as novel functionalities such as acoustic signature perception and Morse code-encrypted message communication. Ultimately, a wearable alarming system with a mobile application terminal is self-developed by integrating the bimodular senor into flexible printed circuits. This system can assess risk factors related with asthmatic, such as stimulation of external NO2 gas, abnormal expiratory behavior and exertion degrees of fingers, achieving a recognition accuracy of 97.6% as assisted by a machine learning algorithm. Our work provides a feasible routine to develop intelligent multifunctional healthcare equipment for burgeoning transformative telemedicine diagnosis.

Telling (mis)fitting new product stories: The role of consumer orientations, product innovativeness, and message framing on new product evaluations

AbstractExtant research proposes that consumer goal orientation‐message frame fit (consumer–message fit) leads to favorable product evaluations. However, there is evidence that consumer goal orientation‐message frame misfit (consumer–message misfit) at times also result in favorable evaluations of new products. This study develops and tests a novel prediction that shows how consumer–message misfit results in consumers having more favorable responses toward new products when the type of innovation (incremental vs. radical) is perceived as instrumental to achieving the consumer's goals with the product (innovation–consumer fit), creating a kind of fit–misfit effect. Results from four experiments encompassing multiple new product categories support this fit–misfit prediction. We further show that surprise mediates the effect of fit–misfit. This research builds on current theory involving goal orientations and schema‐incongruity, recommends several areas for future research, and presents practical implications for managing new product communication messages.

A Parent’s Multimodal Support to Bilingual Child’s Reading: A Case Study of Korean Immigrant Family

ABSTRACT Shared reading is a practice for promoting children’s literacy that parents may utilize at home. In particular, multimodal interactions between a parent and a child can play a role in fostering bilingual children’s reading experiences. This qualitative case study explores how a Korean bilingual mother multimodally supports her child’s shared reading practices. Data sources include an online survey, a monthly reading log, two home visit video observations, and a parent interview. Four multimodal cues are classified throughout the reading: pointing, hand gestures, nodding, and audio language. The three emerging themes of the parent’s nonverbal language in support of the child’s literacy practices include assisting in guessing vocabulary and meaning, drawing attention, and encouraging confidence. The implications of the study are discussed with regards to better promoting a home literacy environment, along with the open communication of relevant messages to parents and educators to offer more support for bilingual students.

S&SEM: A Secure and Speed-Up Election Mechanism for PoS-Based Blockchain Network

To be a stakeholder/validator/token holder is not so difficult in the Proof of Stake (POS)-based blockchain networks; that is why the number of validators is large in these networks. These validators play an essential part in the block creation process in the PoS-based blockchain network. Due to the large validators, the block creation time and communication message broadcasting overhead get increased in the network. Many consensus algorithms use different techniques to reduce the number of validators, such as Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) consensus algorithms, which select the set of delegators via stake transactions for the block creation process. In this paper, we propose S&SEM, a secure and speed-up election process to select the ‘z’ number of validators/delegators. The presented election process is based on a traditional voting style with multiple numbers of rounds. The presented election mechanism reduces the possibility of malicious activity in the voting process by introducing a special vote message and a round that checks duplicate votes. We did horizontal scaling in the network to speed up the election process. We designed an improved incentive mechanism for the fairness of the election process. The designed reward and penalty procedure controls the nodes’ behaviors in the network. We simulate the S&SEM, and the result shows that the presented election process is faster and more secure to select delegators than the existing process used by DPOS.

Hybrid vehicular access protocol and message prioritization for real-time safety messaging

Real-time safety services rely on the exchange of messages to enhance the operations of connected and automated vehicles (CAVs). These safety messages convey vital information about traffic conditions, enabling drivers to take necessary measures to prevent accidents. The timely and reliable delivery of these messages is essential, necessitating efficient channel access. Vehicular Deterministic Access (VDA) is employed as a channel access scheme with distinct priorities and stringent timing guidelines, particularly for urgent safety warnings. In this paper, we propose a hybrid approach that combines VDA and Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA/CA) protocols, along with a message prioritization algorithm, to ensure efficient and reliable communication of safety messages in vehicular networks. Our approach leverages the strengths of both VDA and CSMA/CA to avoid message collisions; VDA is more efficient under high traffic loads, while CSMA/CA is better suited for low traffic loads. Additionally, the incorporation of the message prioritization algorithm ensures strict deadline guarantees for high-priority messages, such as Decentralized Environmental Notification Messages (DENMs). We evaluate our proposed solution using the Artery simulation framework. Our results show over a 93% delivery rate for DENM exchanges while maintaining low collision probability across various traffic loads. This research provides practical guidance for the development of efficient and reliable communication systems for CAVs. It also offers a detailed analysis of the trade-offs among different access protocols and message prioritization strategies in vehicular networks.

Study of indoor and outdoor noise in primary schools in the city of São Paulo - Brazil

Noise pollution has been treated by the World Health Organization as the cause of several diseases, in addition to being the second largest environmental polluter, being surpassed only by air pollution. For schools, excessive noise, in addition to causing illness, is responsible for low levels of cognition and low productivity for both students and teachers. In general, Brazilian public schools are built on land provided by the government, in places that are not suitable for their siting. Thus, in Brazilian schools, students are exposed to noise from the surroundings, as well as noise generated indoors, which is not negligible, reaching levels that can be harmful to health and incompatible with educational activities. This study shows the evaluation of the level of indoor and outdoor noise in classrooms of five primary schools in the city of São Paulo, in the pre-pandemic period of COVID-19, comparing the results with those established by legislation, in addition to evaluating other descriptors such as LAeq, L10, L90, and SIL. The results show that classroom users are exposed to noise levels that complicate the communication of the teacher's message to the student, disrupt concentration and can even be affecting their health

Authenticity and high performance: Nonmarket social, public and media strategies of foreign SMEs during a black swan event

AbstractNonmarket (NM) strategy is an emerging concept, similar to the notion of NM social, public and media strategy (SPMS). Previous literature has predominantly focused on larger corporations, often overlooking smaller enterprises. Additionally, much of the existing research has been centred on developed markets, leaving a gap in qualitative research. The current analysis seeks to elucidate how foreign small and medium‐sized enterprises (FSMEs) in transitional markets, such as Shanghai, adopt specific NM SPMS to mitigate the liability of foreignness (LOF) during a pandemic. The study utilizes a CGT approach, employing semi‐structured interviews with 27 participants, including foreign entrepreneurs and digital marketing specialists. Additionally, qualitative data was analysed comprehensively using Atlas.ti 9 software. The qualitative methodology implementation resulted in the creation of the authenticity and high performance framework from where specific strategies and general implications are presented. The study highlights two principal themes: (1) The need for increased flexibility and speed in social media message communication and (2) Customized FSME strategies through digital marketing—a never‐going‐back market digitalization. The second theme is subdivided into (a) Tailored public relations for FSMEs. (b) An increased need for internal cohesion—fostering a stable mindset and positive rapport among staff. (c) An increased need for trialling new target customers. (d) Creating a relatable story—showing a particular vulnerability can be viral and (e) Maintaining a strong reputation for operational performance.

Following the leaders: Asymmetric party messaging in the U.S. Congress

AbstractToday, rank‐and‐file members are increasingly removed from the legislative process and often rely on congressional leaders for information to discuss major legislative decisions with constituents. As a result, preparing constituent communication materials has become an institutionalized responsibility for party and committee leaders, leading to a partisan discussion of legislation. Using a mixed‐methods approach of computational text analysis and elite interviews, I demonstrate how members of Congress use leader‐led, partisan messages for constituent communication. Echoing prior work on asymmetric partisanship, I find that Republican leaders are more likely to encourage party‐centric messaging, and rank‐and‐file Republicans, particularly in the House, are more likely to adopt party messaging. The findings illustrate the institutional power of party leaders in a centralized Congress, as well as the role that constituent communication plays in encouraging and maintaining asymmetric polarization.

The aim and impact of communication in dental health promotion campaigns

(1) Background: This study delved into a current topic in dental medical practice to analyse the role and impact in communication of messages within health promotion campaigns. (2) Methods: This study analyses the patients' opinions about the role and importance of using an effective communication style in health promotion campaigns. The main aspects aims to analyse based on patients' opinions, the consistency of messages in health promotion campaigns, the repetitive nature of these messages, the adaptation of communication methods according to the target group's background and the importance of collaboration between state bodies and those organizing health promotion campaigns. (3) Results: The results of this study once again emphasize the close connection between the efficiency of health promotion campaigns, the way campaigns are coordinate and the messages for the target population. Most patients are aware about an effective communication in health promotion campaigns, believing that may influence the recipients' decision to adopt a healthy lifestyle concerning oral health. Regarding the effectiveness of health promotion campaigns for oral health, the study’s results reveal a significant lower positive impact among rural patients compared to urban ones. This indicates the need of change in how information is communicated to the population and to increase the level of health education. (4) Conclusions: In conclusion, the data obtained provides valuable and profound insights into how patients perceive the importance and role of communication in health promotion campaigns. The understanding of their perceptions and requirements forms the basis for developing and implementing efficient health communication and strategies, ultimately leading to improved community health and well-being. By personalizing and adapting the messages and communication methods, health promotion campaigns can become much more effective with a greater impact on health-related behaviours and attitudes.