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Inoculation Decreases Uncritical Acceptance of Herbal Product Reporting and Willingness to Engage With TCAM Products: Evidence From Three Preregistered Experiments

Marija Branković et al.

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin2026https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672261416156article
AJG 4ABDC A*
Weight
0.50

Abstract

Many herbal remedies lacking scientific support receive largely favorable media coverage, misleading consumers. To foster more thoughtful consumption, we developed an inoculation-based strategic intervention: a random news generator exposing media tactics like appeals to nature, tradition, availability, and pseudoscientific jargon. Its effectiveness was tested in three preregistered experiments. In a laboratory study (N = 243), active use of the generator helped participants counter media strategies, with effects persisting for 11 days. A novel online active inoculation tool also reduced uncritical acceptance of herbal product reporting, intentions to use herbs for health, and trust in complementary and alternative medicine industries/media in both a student (N = 439) and a community sample (N = 452). The intervention was especially effective among experiential thinkers and those believing in extrasensory perception. Scalable and resource-efficient, this tool inoculates consumers against misleading media tactics and is adaptable for use across educational, media, and healthcare contexts.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672261416156

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@article{marija2026,
  title        = {{Inoculation Decreases Uncritical Acceptance of Herbal Product Reporting and Willingness to Engage With TCAM Products: Evidence From Three Preregistered Experiments}},
  author       = {Marija Branković et al.},
  journal      = {Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672261416156},
}

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Inoculation Decreases Uncritical Acceptance of Herbal Product Reporting and Willingness to Engage With TCAM Products: Evidence From Three Preregistered Experiments

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.