April 4-6, 2024 • Hyatt Regency • Lexington, KY
Innovations in Health Communication
Innovations in Health Communication
Abstract: Examining the Impact of a Culture-Centric Narrative on Vaccine Uptake and Mental Wellness Among Latinos in the Midwest
During the height of COVID-19, Latinos reported more vaccine hesitancy (Khubchandani & Macias, 2021) and experienced disproportionately high rates of mental stressors caused by COVID-19 (e.g., job insecurity, Krogstad et al., 2020). In an Ohio-focused assessment of the COVID-related needs of racial-ethnic minority populations and other marginalized groups (Nemeth et al., 2020), Latino informants suggested that narrative-based educational materials may deliver necessary information regarding prevention strategies (e.g., vaccinations) within their communities better than other forms of communication. Larkey and Hecht (2010) propose a model of culture-centric narratives in health promotion (CNHP), which outlines how health-related narrative messages created with culture-specific groups can produce changes in health-related attitudes and behaviors. However, few studies have examined the impact of acculturation on culture-centric narrative effects for a cultural group (e.g., Walter et al., 2017). This study directly tests the differential impact of a culture-centric narrative about Latinos’ experiences with COVID-19 versus a generic narrative representative of the white, Anglo-Saxon dominant culture in the Midwest to understand the potential impact of acculturation on identification, social proliferation, attitudes, and behavioral intentions.
English-proficient, adult participants who identified in their Dynata profile as Latino or Hispanic living in the Midwest of the United States (n =216) were randomly assigned to one of two conditions, where they were exposed to a culture-centric narrative or a generic narrative about a family's experience with COVID-19. The narratives were constructed by collecting cultural stories about COVID-19 from Latinos in the Midwest. Each narrative was presented as a 10-minute, self-advancing slide show. Images of the characters were presented along with text. The text was also narrated by voice actors to enhance the entertainment value of the narrative.
Although no significant differences were detected between the two narratives on the model variables (i.e., identification, social proliferation, attitudes, and behavioral intentions), participants exposed to the culture-centric narrative found the characters more culturally similar to themselves than those exposed to the generic narrative (t (212) = 3.22, Mean Diff. = .45, SE = .14, p = .001). Some evidence was also found to suggest that acculturation may moderate the effect of the culture-centric narrative on identification (F (5, 202) = 5.22, R2 = .11, p < .001). Respondents with the strongest connections to Latino culture reported significantly more identification with the culture-centric character than the generic characters, while this difference in identification was not significant among respondents with weaker ties to Latino culture.
Implications of these findings include two potentially fruitful directions for future research: first, about how narratives impact individuals who share the same cultural identity but connect to it differently, and second, about how the practical application of the CNHP model may benefit from theorizing about the inclusion of cultural groups in a heterogeneous cultural community.
English-proficient, adult participants who identified in their Dynata profile as Latino or Hispanic living in the Midwest of the United States (n =216) were randomly assigned to one of two conditions, where they were exposed to a culture-centric narrative or a generic narrative about a family's experience with COVID-19. The narratives were constructed by collecting cultural stories about COVID-19 from Latinos in the Midwest. Each narrative was presented as a 10-minute, self-advancing slide show. Images of the characters were presented along with text. The text was also narrated by voice actors to enhance the entertainment value of the narrative.
Although no significant differences were detected between the two narratives on the model variables (i.e., identification, social proliferation, attitudes, and behavioral intentions), participants exposed to the culture-centric narrative found the characters more culturally similar to themselves than those exposed to the generic narrative (t (212) = 3.22, Mean Diff. = .45, SE = .14, p = .001). Some evidence was also found to suggest that acculturation may moderate the effect of the culture-centric narrative on identification (F (5, 202) = 5.22, R2 = .11, p < .001). Respondents with the strongest connections to Latino culture reported significantly more identification with the culture-centric character than the generic characters, while this difference in identification was not significant among respondents with weaker ties to Latino culture.
Implications of these findings include two potentially fruitful directions for future research: first, about how narratives impact individuals who share the same cultural identity but connect to it differently, and second, about how the practical application of the CNHP model may benefit from theorizing about the inclusion of cultural groups in a heterogeneous cultural community.