Protecting consumers from fraudulent health claims: A taxonomy of psychological drivers, interventions, barriers, and treatments

Protecting consumers from fraudulent health claims: A taxonomy of psychological drivers, interventions, barriers, and treatments 

Douglas MacFarlane, Mark J. Hurlstone, Ullrich K.H. Ecker

Highlights

• Novel interventions are needed to protect consumers from fraudulent health claims.
• Interventions must target the cognitive mechanisms driving consumers susceptibility.
• A structured taxonomy helps design interventions using psychological insights.
• Outlines a research agenda to design, test, and compare promising interventions.
• Provides a useful guideline for practitioners combatting fraudulent health claims.

Abstract

Fraudulent health claims—false or misleading claims used to promote health remedies that are untested, ineffective, and often harmful—cause extensive and persistent harm to consumers. To address this problem, novel interventions are needed that address the underlying cognitive mechanisms that render consumers susceptible to fraudulent health claims. However, there is currently no single framework of relevant psychological insights to design interventions for this purpose. The current review aims to address this gap.

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.112790

COPYRIGHT

The present paper has been shared through the authors private network of known colleagues in the Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI) for their personal use only— Copyright restrictions prohibit recipients from publicly posting the article or sharing the article beyond the original recipients. Recipients may share a link to the “published journal article” which is available through the hyperlink below. MacFarlane, D., Hurlstone, M.J., & Ecker, U.K.H. (2020). Protecting consumers from fraudulent health claims: A taxonomy of psychological drivers, interventions, barriers, and treatments. Social Science & Medicine, 112790.