Using infographics to improve trust in science: a randomized pilot test

OBJECTIVE: This study describes the iterative process of selecting an infographic for use in a large, randomized trial related to trust in science, COVID-19 misinformation, and behavioral intentions for non-pharmaceutical prevenive behaviors. Five separate concepts were developed based on underlying subcomponents of ‘trust in science and scientists’ and were turned into infographics by media experts and digital artists. Study participants (n = 100) were recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk and randomized to five different arms. Each arm viewed a different infographic and provided both quantitative (narrative believability scale and trust in science and scientists inventory) and qualitative data to assist the research team in identifying the infographic most likely to be successful in a larger study. RESULTS: Data indicated that all infographics were perceived to be believable, with means ranging from 5.27 to 5.97 on a scale from one to seven. No iatrogenic outcomes were observed for within-group changes in trust in science. Given equivocal believability outcomes, and after examining confidence intervals for data on trust in science and then the qualitative responses, we selected infographic 3, which addressed issues of credibility and consensus by illustrating changing narratives on butter and margarine, as the best candidate for use in the full study. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13104-021-05626-4.