Humorous content effectiveness in marine biotoxins' risk communication through social media

Social media are largely integrated into citizens’ daily routines and constitute powerful communication tools, often exploited by regulatory authorities as information distribution channels for risk communication purposes. Food safety issues frequently raise public concern, requiring management through trustworthy information provision, ideally disseminated by digital means. Risk communication strategies entailing the use of humor in social media are increasingly becoming popular, aiming to raise public awareness and induce risk perception. The objective of this work was to assess the effectiveness of humor-mediated risk communication strategies regarding the food safety hazard of marine biotoxins in a multinational audience.  A multinational survey targeting adult English-speaking social media users was conducted, also involving participants with food safety and marine biotoxin expertise, by means of an online questionnaire that included: (a) demographical data, educational/professional background, food safety-related attitude and social media usage; and (b) respondents’ perception on various effectiveness parameters, examining three groups of materials relevant to marine biotoxins (conventional, humorous and combination), as risk communication scenarios. The majority of the 218 participants indicated humorous materials as of lower effectiveness than conventional ones; however, the former were scored as more “likeable” or sharable, especially by those more familiar with food safety and/or marine biotoxins. Interestingly, participants perceived materials combining both humorous and conventional elements as comparably effective to those purely conventional. In conclusion, materials combining both informative and humorous elements, may constitute potentially valuable tools in food safety/marine biotoxins’ risk communication through social media, by further content optimization.