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Health Communication in the Time of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Analysis of Italian Advertisements

Author

Listed:
  • Rosa Scardigno

    (Department of Educational Sciences, Psychology, Communication, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70122 Bari, Italy)

  • Pasquale Musso

    (Department of Educational Sciences, Psychology, Communication, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70122 Bari, Italy)

  • Paolo Giovanni Cicirelli

    (Department of Educational Sciences, Psychology, Communication, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70122 Bari, Italy)

  • Francesca D’Errico

    (Department of Educational Sciences, Psychology, Communication, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70122 Bari, Italy)

Abstract

In the climate of great uncertainty characterizing the COVID-19 pandemic, health communication played a significant role: several communicative strategies and channels were used to inform, educate and alert. Entropy-related risks were soon translated into the “infodemic”, a wide-spread phenomenon with psychosocial and cultural roots. Therefore, new challenges for public institutions occurred: public health communication, especially expressed through advertising and audiovisual spots, was engaged to offer key support in combatting the disease, mitigating its effects and supporting health and psychological wellbeing. This work aims to investigate how the Italian public institutions addressed those challenges by employing institutional spots. We tried to answer two main research questions: (a) in line with the literature concerning persuasive communication, what were the main variables that social advertising concerning health attitudes and behaviors relied on; and (b) how the different variables were combined to propose specific communicative pathways following both the different waves/phases of the COVID-19 pandemic and the elaboration likelihood model. To answer these questions, 34 Italian spots were analyzed by means of qualitative multimodal analysis (including scopes, major narratives themes, central and peripheral cues). The results enabled us to individuate different communicative pathways, oriented by inclusivity, functionality and contamination, in line with different rounds as well as with the holistic configurations of cultural narratives, central and peripheral cues.

Suggested Citation

  • Rosa Scardigno & Pasquale Musso & Paolo Giovanni Cicirelli & Francesca D’Errico, 2023. "Health Communication in the Time of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Analysis of Italian Advertisements," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-14, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:5:p:4424-:d:1085008
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ammar Redza Ahmad Rizal & Shahrina Md Nordin & Wan Fatimah Wan Ahmad & Muhammad Jazlan Ahmad Khiri & Siti Haslina Hussin, 2022. "How Does Social Media Influence People to Get Vaccinated? The Elaboration Likelihood Model of a Person’s Attitude and Intention to Get COVID-19 Vaccines," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-20, February.
    2. Viola, Carmine & Toma, Pierluigi & Manta, Francesco & Benvenuto, Marco, 2021. "The more you know, the better you act? Institutional communication in Covid-19 crisis management," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    3. Escalas, Jennifer Edson & Stern, Barbara B, 2003. "Sympathy and Empathy: Emotional Responses to Advertising Dramas," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 29(4), pages 566-578, March.
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