Method: Participants in two samples (undergraduate students N =47; Amazon Mechanical Turk participants N =404) read a story that appeared on the New York Times website about a person who developed a life-threatening illness (Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, SJS) after using Ibuprofen. Half of the participants were also given detailed base-rate information about SJS. Before reading the article (Baseline), participants answered questions about their use of Ibuprofen in the last week, their attitude toward Ibuprofen use, and their future likelihood of using Ibuprofen. After reading the story (Time 1), participants again answered questions about their likelihood of using Ibuprofen and their attitudes towards its use as well as items assessing knowledge, fear/disgust, and risk perception. Two weeks later (Time 2), participants completed a follow-up survey measuring Ibuprofen use and several other items measured at Time 1 plus four measures of individual differences: the Berlin Numeracy Test, the Subjective Numeracy Scale, the Health Literacy Screening Measure, and the Rational Experiential Inventory.
Result: In both samples, participants reported more negative attitudes toward Ibuprofen use after reading an article about a patient who contracted SJS after using Ibuprofen; Ibuprofen was also used less frequently two weeks after reading the story than at baseline, p < .05. Providing detailed information about the epidemiology and base rate of SJS did not reduce the impact of the narrative on attitudes or behavior, p > .05. However, numeracy and thinking style were predictive of attitude change in response to the article in Sample 2, p < .05. Specifically, people reporting greater numeracy and a more rational thinking style were less likely to adopt a negative attitude toward Ibuprofen use, p < .05.
Conclusion: Although journalistic narratives or exemplars have been shown to alter risk perception and behavioral intentions, no research has created a direct link between non-celebrity narratives and changes in health behaviors. Across two studies, we demonstrated that patient narratives in the media can have a significant impact on health behavior. In addition, numeracy and cognitive style of the reader is predictive of attitude change in response to the narrative.
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