Video Production Attributes as Tactics for Communicating Science on Social Media

The present study empirically tests video production tactics for TikTok- and Instagram-like videos that can be employed to achieve specific, short-term communication objectives. Using the Strategic (Science) Communication as Planned Behavior (SCPB) model as a framework, a between-subjects experiment varies the race/ethnicity of the speaker, the tone of the video, and the inclusion of references to pop culture to examine how these tactics are related to curiosity, enjoyment, and motivations to follow similar content online. We use a representative sample of U.S. adults with oversampling of underrepresented STEM groups. Findings and implications are discussed.