IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i10p5207-d554353.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Of Pandemics and Zombies: The Influence of Prior Concepts on COVID-19 Pandemic-Related Behaviors

Author

Listed:
  • Jessecae K. Marsh

    (Department of Psychology, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA 18018, USA)

  • Nick D. Ungson

    (Department of Psychology, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA 18018, USA
    Department of Psychology, Albright College, Bethlehem, PA 18018, USA)

  • Dominic J. Packer

    (Department of Psychology, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA 18018, USA)

Abstract

We use a concepts and categories research perspective to explore how prior conceptual knowledge influences thinking about a novel disease, namely COVID-19. We collected measures of how similar people thought COVID-19 was to several existing concepts that may have served as other possible comparison points for the pandemic. We also collected participants’ self-reported engagement in pandemic-related behaviors. We found that thinking the COVID-19 pandemic was similar to other serious disease outbreaks predicted greater social distancing and mask-wearing, whereas likening COVID-19 to the seasonal flu predicted engaging in significantly fewer of these behaviors. Thinking of COVID-19 as similar to zombie apocalypse scenarios or moments of major societal upheaval predicted stocking-up behaviors, but not disease mitigation behaviors. These early category comparisons influenced behaviors over a six-month span of longitudinal data collection. Our findings suggest that early conceptual comparisons track with emergent disease categories over time and influence the behaviors people engage in related to the disease. Our research illustrates how early concept formation influences behaviors over time, and suggests ways for public health experts to communicate with the public about emergent diseases.

Suggested Citation

  • Jessecae K. Marsh & Nick D. Ungson & Dominic J. Packer, 2021. "Of Pandemics and Zombies: The Influence of Prior Concepts on COVID-19 Pandemic-Related Behaviors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-17, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:10:p:5207-:d:554353
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/10/5207/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/10/5207/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Moreau, C Page & Markman, Arthur B & Lehmann, Donald R, 2001. ""What Is It?" Categorization Flexibility and Consumers' Responses to Really New Products," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 27(4), pages 489-498, March.
    2. Senior, Victoria & Marteau, Theresa M. & Peters, Timothy J., 1999. "Will genetic testing for predisposition for disease result in fatalism? A qualitative study of parents responses to neonatal screening for familial hypercholesterolaemia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 48(12), pages 1857-1860, June.
    3. Wändi Bruine de Bruin & Htay-Wah Saw & Dana P. Goldman, 2020. "Political polarization in US residents’ COVID-19 risk perceptions, policy preferences, and protective behaviors," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 61(2), pages 177-194, October.
    4. Frank, Sarah M. & Durden, T. Elizabeth, 2017. "Two approaches, one problem: Cultural constructions of type II diabetes in an indigenous community in Yucatán, Mexico," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 64-71.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mary Grace Harris & Emma Wood & Florencia K. Anggoro, 2022. "Mental Models of Illness during the Early Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-12, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nattavudh Powdthavee & Yohanes E Riyanto & Erwin C L Wong & Jonathan X W Yeo & Qi Yu Chan, 2021. "When face masks signal social identity: Explaining the deep face-mask divide during the COVID-19 pandemic," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(6), pages 1-15, June.
    2. Shanike J. Smart & Solomon W. Polachek, 2024. "COVID-19 vaccine and risk-taking," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 68(1), pages 25-49, February.
    3. Yuanfang Lin & Amit Pazgal, 2016. "Hide Supremacy or Admit Inferiority—Market Entry Strategies in Response to Consumer Informational Needs," Customer Needs and Solutions, Springer;Institute for Sustainable Innovation and Growth (iSIG), vol. 3(2), pages 94-103, June.
    4. Bong-Goon Seo & Do-Hyung Park, 2020. "The Effective Type of Information Categorization in Online Curation Service Depending on Psychological Ownership," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-13, April.
    5. Sabrina Cipolletta & Gabriela Rios Andreghetti & Giovanna Mioni, 2022. "Risk Perception towards COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Qualitative Synthesis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-25, April.
    6. Nenycz-Thiel, Magda & Romaniuk, Jenni, 2016. "Understanding premium private labels: A consumer categorisation approach," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 22-30.
    7. Jesper Akesson & Sam Ashworth-Hayes & Robert Hahn & Robert Metcalfe & Itzhak Rasooly, 2022. "Fatalism, beliefs, and behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 64(2), pages 147-190, April.
    8. Laurentiu Mincu & Thorsten Gruber, 2013. "Exploring the Factors Influencing the Intention to Use Self-Service Technologies: An Eastern European Perspective," The International Journal of Economic Behavior - IJEB, Faculty of Business and Administration, University of Bucharest, vol. 3(1), pages 59-84, December.
    9. Mary Tripsas, 2008. "Customer preference discontinuities: a trigger for radical technological change," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(2-3), pages 79-97.
    10. Bret Leary, R. & Vann, Richard J. & Mittelstaedt, John D., 2017. "Leading the way: Motivating environmental action through perceived marketplace influence," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 79-89.
    11. Grimalda, Gianluca & Murtin, Fabrice & Pipke, David & Putterman, Louis & Sutter, Matthias, 2023. "The politicized pandemic: Ideological polarization and the behavioral response to COVID-19," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    12. Frédéric Basso & Philippe Robert-Demontrond & Maryvonne Hayek & Jean-Luc Anton & Bruno Nazarian & Muriel Roth & Olivier Oullier, 2014. "Why People Drink Shampoo? Food Imitating Products Are Fooling Brains and Endangering Consumers for Marketing Purposes," Post-Print halshs-01183005, HAL.
    13. Simon Blanchard & Wayne DeSarbo, 2013. "A New Zero-Inflated Negative Binomial Methodology for Latent Category Identification," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 78(2), pages 322-340, April.
    14. Samuel Afriyie & Jianguo Duo & Kingsley Appiah & Abdul-Aziz Ibn Musah, 2018. "The Nexus between Types of Innovation and Marketing Performance of SME in an Emerging Economy," International Review of Management and Marketing, Econjournals, vol. 8(6), pages 78-92.
    15. Dan Goldhaber & Scott A. Imberman & Katharine O. Strunk & Bryant G. Hopkins & Nate Brown & Erica Harbatkin & Tara Kilbride, 2022. "To What Extent Does In‐Person Schooling Contribute To The Spread Of Covid‐19? Evidence From Michigan And Washington," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(1), pages 318-349, January.
    16. Kislev, Mickey M. & Kislev, Shira, 2020. "The Market Trajectory of a Radically New Product: E-Cigarettes," MPRA Paper 104425, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Hamilton, Rebecca W. & Puntoni, Stefano & Tavassoli, Nader T., 2010. "Categorization by groups and individuals," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 112(1), pages 70-81, May.
    18. Habicher, Daria & Windegger, Felix & von der Gracht, Heiko A. & Pechlaner, Harald, 2022. "Beyond the COVID-19 crisis: A research note on post-pandemic scenarios for South Tyrol 2030+," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    19. Frank J. van Rijnsoever & Carolina Castaldi, 2008. "Perceived technology clusters and ownership of related technologies: the case of consumer electronics," Innovation Studies Utrecht (ISU) working paper series 08-17, Utrecht University, Department of Innovation Studies, revised Jun 2008.
    20. Donald R. Lehmann & Jeffrey R. Parker, 2017. "Disadoption," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 7(1), pages 36-51, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:10:p:5207-:d:554353. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.