Red Alert in Authority-led Public Health Crisis Communication Efforts: The Role of Pre-existing Source Trust on the Impact of Misinformation and Corrective Appeals on Publics’ Identity Threat, Reactance, and Emotional Responses

Xuerong Lu (Ph.D. alum), Wenqing Zhao (Ph.D. candidate), Yan Jin, W. Timothy Coombs, andSantosh Vijaykumar. “Red Alert in Authority-led Public Health Crisis Communication Efforts: The Role of Pre-existing Source Trust on the Impact of Misinformation and Corrective Appeals on Publics’ Identity Threat, Reactance, and Emotional Responses.” Public Relations Division, AEJMC Annual Conference, August 7-10, 2025, San Francisco, CA.

Abstract: Misinformative comments about health information pose significant threats to social-mediated public health crisis communication (PHCC). While consensus exists that credible sources such as government health agencies are essential in delivering factual information and correcting misinformation, declining institutional trust complicates these efforts, particularly when misinformation nowadays distorts not only factual content but also source validity. Drawing on theories of psychological reactance and crisis coping and situated in the alarming raw milk consumption controversy in the United States, this study investigates how different types of raw milk misinformation (attacking factual information vs. attacking the U.S. Food and Drug Administration [FDA]) and corrective strategies utilized by the FDA (fear appeal vs. moral appeal vs. absence [no correction]) influence individuals’ responses during the ongoing raw milk triggered and social media amplified public health crisis. Results from the online experiment reveal a crucial moderating role of pre-existing institutional trust and suggest the limited effectiveness of emotional-based correction when participants' trust in the health authority was low. In addition, identity threat, when evoked by misinformation, seems to increase psychological reactance and negative emotional responses, and consequently lead to varied cognitive and conative coping intentions, impairing effective public health crisis communication aimed to intervene widespread health misinformation. This study casts light upon the importance of aligning corrective strategies with publics’ institutional trust levels, offering key implications for government health agencies and health public relations practitioners aiming to mitigate the impact of misinformation during public health crises.