Stars—They’re Sick Like Us! The Effects of a Celebrity Exemplar on COVID-19-Related Risk Cognitions, Emotions, and Preventative Behavioral Intentions

Abstract

Research on exemplification suggests that celebrity health exemplars can exert a greater influence on public risk perceptions than exemplars featuring noncelebrities. In the aftermath of actor Tom Hanks’s announcement that he tested positive for COVID-19, an online experiment compared the effects of his exemplar to an identical noncelebrity exemplar. Hanks’s disclosure increased perceptions of susceptibility to the virus. The celebrity exemplar also increased anxiety, which increased intentions to engage in preventive behavior. These findings suggest that the mere presence of celebrity might function as a cognitive and affective heuristic that guides risk-related assessment and decision making.

Guidance in the chaos: Effects of science communication by virologists during the COVID-19 crisis in Germany and the role of parasocial phenomena

“…PSP, therefore, seemed to be relevant for taking protective actions. Cohen (2020) similarly found positive relationships between PSP with celebrities and prevention behavior intentions. Depending on the experimental condition, people read either that Tom Hanks or a businessman had contracted the coronavirus.…”

WillCOVID‐19‐related economic worries superimpose health worries, reducing nonpharmaceutical intervention acceptance in Germany? A prospective pre‐registered study

“…Recently, Cohen (2020) provided evidence for the applicability of the availability heuristic in a health context. In particular, she found that exposure to celebrities suffering of COVID‐19 increased anxiety towards the disease.…”

“…This assumption is supported by recent findings showing that fear of the virus and perceptions of its dangerousness lead to a higher compliance with NPIs (Abdelrahman, 2020; Harper et al, 2020). Furthermore, it is in line with the risk‐as‐feelings approach by Loewenstein et al (2001), which suggests that “emotion—specifically affective responses to threats such anxiety, worry, and fear—is viewed as a dimension of risk perception that is capable of exerting its own discrete and direct influence on behavior.” (Cohen, 2020, p. 728).…”

Information Source Use and Social Media Engagement: Examining their Effects on Origin of COVID-19 Beliefs

“…Specifically, social media plays a role in shaping public perceptions of risk and outrage during crises (Ophir, 2018; Quinn, 2018; Rossman et al, 2018). Cohen (2020) examined the influence of celebrities who shared their COVID-19 experiences on social media on public risk perceptions and found the presence of celebrities influenced public perception of disease susceptibility and increased public engagement in prevention behavior. Though social media provides opportunities for experts to quickly share information to the public, barriers exist in using social media for effective risk communication as members of the general public also share inaccurate information (Malecki et al, 2021).…”