Communicating quantitative evidence of policy effectiveness and support for the policy: Three experimental studies

Reynolds, James; Pilling, Mark; Marteau, Theresa M.

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.09.037

Cited by 49 publications

(92 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Both effectiveness and ineffectiveness interventions were eligible if they asserted that a policy was effective, even if they did not specify that the information originated from an expert or from research, e.g. 'this tax would lead to a 1.6% reduction in obesity' [8].…”

Section: Eligibility Criteriamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These problems, among many others, require the action of policy makers, yet low public support can present a barrier for such action, especially in an increasingly complex and politicized information environment [4][5][6][7]. There have been many attempts to increase support for various policies across issue domains, and communicating evidence of a policy's effectiveness has potential as one possible strategy [8]. The current study aims to systematically synthesize the evidence for changing public attitudes and support for policies by communicating evidence about a policy's effectiveness at achieving its goal.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The perceived effectiveness of a policy at achieving its goal has consistently been found as one of the strongest predictors of support over a range of policies [8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. Reflecting these findings, a number of studies have communicated evidence that a policy is effective as an intervention to increase policy support, with mixed results.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Reflecting these findings, a number of studies have communicated evidence that a policy is effective as an intervention to increase policy support, with mixed results. Studies that have communicated unconfounded evidence that a policy is effective have mostly found increased support for the policy, with perceived effectiveness acting as the mechanism behind this change [8,[15][16][17]. Studies that have communicated messages containing evidence of effectiveness in addition to further information have yielded mixed results, with the mechanism(s) remaining unclear [18][19][20][21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Communicating the effectiveness and ineffectiveness of government policies and their impact on public support: a systematic review with meta-analysis

et al. 2020

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Low public support for government interventions in health, environment and other policy domains can be a barrier to implementation. Communicating evidence of policy effectiveness has been used to influence attitudes towards policies, with mixed results. This review provides the first systematic synthesis of such studies. Eligible studies were randomized controlled experiments that included an intervention group that provided evidence of a policy's effectiveness or ineffectiveness at achieving a salient outcome, and measured policy support. From 6498 abstracts examined, there were 45 effect sizes from 36 eligible studies. In total, 35 ( N = 30 858) communicated evidence of effectiveness, and 10 ( N = 5078) communicated evidence of ineffectiveness. Random effects meta-analysis revealed that communicating evidence of a policy's effectiveness increased support for the policy (SMD = 0.11, 95% CI [0.07, 0.15], p < 0.0001), equivalent to support increasing from 50% to 54% (95% CI [53%, 56%]). Communicating evidence of ineffectiveness decreased policy support (SMD = −0.14, 95% CI [−0.22, −0.06], p < 0.001), equivalent to support decreasing from 50% to 44% (95% CI [41%, 47%]). These findings suggest that public support for policies in a range of domains is sensitive to evidence of their effectiveness, as well as their ineffectiveness.

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Section: Eligibility Criteriamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Communicating the effectiveness and ineffectiveness of government policies and their impact on public support: a systematic review with meta-analysis

et al. 2020

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“…In addition to its effectiveness, the public acceptability of an intervention affects the likelihood that it is implemented [25]. Public attitudes can also change with evidence of an intervention's effectiveness [21,26,27]. Public support for tobacco control policies, such as taxation and image-and-text HWLs, is generally high [26,28].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Image-and-text health warning labels on alcohol and food: potential effectiveness and acceptability

Pechey¹,

Clarke²,

Mantzari³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Background: Health warning labels (HWLs) using images and text to depict the negative health consequences of tobacco consumption are effective and acceptable for changing smoking-related outcomes. There is currently limited evidence concerning their potential use for reducing consumption of alcoholic drinks and energy-dense foods. The aim of this research was to describe the potential effectiveness and acceptability of image-and-text (also known as pictorial or graphic) HWLs applied to: i. alcoholic drinks and ii. energy-dense snack foods. Methods: Two online studies were conducted using between-subjects designs with general population samples. Participants rated one of 21 image-and-text HWLs on alcoholic drinks (n = 5528), or one of 18 image-and-text HWLs on energy-dense snacks (n = 4618). HWLs comprised a graphic image with explanatory text, depicting, respectively, seven diseases linked to excess alcohol consumption, and six diseases linked to excess energy intake. Diseases included heart disease and various cancers. Outcomes were negative emotional arousal, desire to consume the labelled product, and acceptability of the label. Free-text comments relating to HWLs were content analysed. Results: For both alcoholic drinks and energy-dense snacks, HWLs depicting bowel cancer generated the highest levels of negative emotional arousal and lowest desire to consume the product, but were the least acceptable. Acceptability was generally low for HWLs applied to alcohol, with 3 of 21 rated as acceptable, and was generally high for snacks, with 13 of 18 rated as acceptable. The majority of free-text comments expressed negative reactions to HWLs on alcohol or energy-dense snacks. Conclusions: Image-and-text health warning labels depicting bowel cancer showed greatest potential for reducing selection and consumption of alcoholic drinks and energy-dense snacks, although they were the least acceptable. Laboratory and field studies are needed to assess their impact on selection and consumption.

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Will the Farm to Fork strategy be effective in changing food consumption behavior? A health psychology perspective

König

Araújo‐Soares

2021

Applied Eco Perspectives Pol

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Food production accounts for one-third of greenhouse gas emissions; the Farm to Fork strategy aims to make food systems more sustainable and healthier to curb the rising global surface temperature. It includes several actions targeting consumer behavior, including increasing the availability of sustainable and healthy products and mandatory nutritional labeling. The actions address relevant psychological mechanisms; however, the outlined actions are vague and based on only a small number of behavioral determinants that may limit effectiveness. The implementation may furthermore benefit from concepts of implementation science to increase acceptability and feasibility to reach its ambitious goals.

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Communicating quantitative evidence of policy effectiveness and support for the policy: Three experimental studies

Cited by 49 publications

References 45 publications

Communicating the effectiveness and ineffectiveness of government policies and their impact on public support: a systematic review with meta-analysis

Communicating the effectiveness and ineffectiveness of government policies and their impact on public support: a systematic review with meta-analysis

Image-and-text health warning labels on alcohol and food: potential effectiveness and acceptability

Will the Farm to Fork strategy be effective in changing food consumption behavior? A health psychology perspective

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