3.3. Independent Variables and Stimulus Materials
infection
VIRUS, INFECTION, CORONAVIRUS, EVENTS, FLU
The two experimental manipulations were applied to a first-person testimonial narrative message. The message was constructed on the Twitter platform, specifically as a Twitter thread consisting of 7 tweets, each no longer than 280 characters. The credibility and realism of the message were maximized by simulating the interface of the Twitter platform and preserving the structure of the social network (see The testimonial was written in an informal and youthful tone to grant the message greater realism and credibility, with particular attention paid to using gender-neutral language that did not provide clues about the protagonist’s gender. In this sense, prior to the experiment, a pilot study was carried out (N = 28) to select a unisex name for the protagonist of the narrative message. A unisex name is one that is valid for both male and female individuals and does not impose a gender identity. The protagonist’s gender was intended to be neutral in order to avoid any gender-based biases in the reception of the narrative. Participants were asked to select the most suitable unisex name from a list of 15 names, taking into account the Spanish context. Based on the results of the pilot study, Alex (35.7%) was selected as the name of the protagonist in the Twitter testimonial narrative.The testimonial message elaborated for this study had a clear and causal structure, in such a way that a series of events were presented that were connected in space and time (see The protagonist of the testimonial began by stating that, like most of his friends, they thought that coronavirus was nothing to worry about, that it was like a flu, and that was why their social life had changed little in the last few months. They then recounted that they had celebrated a party with friends to celebrate their birthday and had not paid attention to COVID-19 prevention measures (mask use and social distancing). The use of the “party” factor as a trigger for the infection and transmission of the virus was inspired by the short film “Compromiso en 60 Segundos”, directed by Willy Suárez, winner of the first prize in the Cultura Inquieta microfilm contest and which went viral on social media in Spain at the end of 2020 (