Disparate impact pandemic framing decreases public concern for health consequences

It is known that the new coronavirus (COVID-19) is disproportionately affecting the elderly, those with underlying medical conditions, and the poor. What is the effect of informing the public about these inequalities on people’s perceptions of threat and their sensitivity to the outbreak’s human toll? This study answers this question using a novel survey experiment and finds that emphasis on the unequal aspect of the pandemic, especially as it relates to the elderly and those with medical conditions, could be causing the public to become less concerned about the outbreak and its human toll. Discussion situates this finding in the literature on scientific communication and persuasion and explains why language that emphasizes the impact of the virus on all of us—rather than singling out certain groups—could be more effective in increasing caution among the general public and make them take the situation more seriously.