If you’re working with the Florida cattle industry and you’re trying to spread information about tick-borne illnesses, the best way to get your message across is using prevention-focused messages, rather than fear.
That’s the takeaway from a new study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research by University of Florida researchers.
Ticks, especially Asian longhorn ticks, present a unique threat to cattle in Florida. In addition to weakening cattle through anemia and weight loss, Asian longhorn ticks spread diseases like bovine theileriosis, an illness spread by a blood-borne parasite, which can have a wide death rate of between 1% to 50% of a herd, according to the USDA.
While Asian longhorn ticks have been prevalent in the Northeast since 2017, they’ve been spreading more into the South in recent years, according to the USDA.
Researchers have been looking at which online messages resonate with the cattle industry about tick prevention in order to help communicators tailor messages about this threat, said Lauri Baker, UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) associate professor of agricultural communication.
“The big piece here is we want to prepare cattle producers for increased risks related to ticks and increase disease. These ticks are moving from northern states toward Florida,” Baker said. “And robust prevention methods exist, so there’s no reason we should let them be caught unaware. But we have to reach them first.”
The study, funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and done in collaboration with the Southeastern Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases, compared simulated Facebook posts that featured prevention-based messages with fear-based messages and had cattle producers share their thoughts on the messages. The sample posts in the study were written as if they were from a UF/IFAS Extension agent and from a cattle producer.
They discovered that messages that focused on fear, doom and gloom didn’t change behavior or help encourage cattle producers to do preventative measures for ticks. Messages like “Watch out! Cow-killing ticks are spreading across the U.S.” led to backlash because they made producers feel like the concerns were “over-exaggerated” or “scare tactics” instead of useful information, based on the comments received by study participants.
But messages that were prevention-focused were received in a better light and trusted more, especially when the message was delivered by a UF/IFAS Extension agent.
Baker said the lesson from this study could be that messaging about tick-borne diseases in cattle should be about actionable steps and data-based information about the risks, without the emotional flair. A focus on educating the audience about tick risks is the best approach, and as risk perception changes, they’ll be more likely to take preventative steps.
“This audience is willing to do these preventative measures if they understand the risk,” she said.
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ABOUT UF/IFAS
The mission of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) is to develop knowledge relevant to agricultural, human and natural resources and to make that knowledge available to sustain and enhance the quality of human life. With more than a dozen research facilities, 67 county Extension offices, and award-winning students and faculty in the UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, UF/IFAS brings science-based solutions to the state’s agricultural and natural resources industries, and all Florida residents.
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