Media coverage and pandemic behaviour: Evidence from Sweden

Marcel Garz and Maiting Zhuang ()
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Maiting Zhuang: Mistra Center for Sustainable Markets (Misum), Postal: Mistra Center for Sustainable Markets (Misum), Postal: Stockholm School of Economics, P.O. Box 6501, SE-113 83 Stockholm, Sweden, https://www.hhs.se/en/persons/z/zhuang-maiting/

No 2022-9, Misum Working Paper Series from Stockholm School of Economics, Mistra Center for Sustainable Markets (Misum)

Abstract: We study the effect of media coverage on individual behaviour during a public health crisis. For this purpose, we collect a unique dataset of 200,000 newspaper articles about the Covid-19 pandemic from Sweden – one of the few countries that did not impose mandatory lockdowns or curfews. We show that mentions of Covid-19 significantly lowered the number of visits to workplaces and retail and recreation areas, while increasing the duration of stays in residential locations. Using two different identification strategies, we show that these effects are causal. The impacts are largest when Covid-19 news stories are more locally relevant, more visible and more factual. We find larger behavioural effects for articles that reference crisis managers (as opposed to medical experts) and contain explicit public health advice. These results have wider implications for the design of public communications and the value of the local media.

Keywords: Covid-19; Mobility; Newspapers; Persuasion; Public health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D83 H12 I12 I18 J22 L82 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 84 pages
Date: 2022-08-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur, nep-hea and nep-lma
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Journal Article: Media coverage and pandemic behavior: Evidence from Sweden (2024)
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