Zeitschrift für Massenkommunikation und Journalismus

The Effectiveness of Persuasive Appeals during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case of Jordanian Defense Orders

Abstract

Faisal Al Serhan1* and Amjad Al Qadi

Jordan was one of the first Middle Eastern countries to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors of this paper examined the Jordanian government's persuasive appeals in defense orders issued between March and August 2020 to contain the pandemic. The authors discussed how the focus group responded to these appeals and concluded that this behavior did not halt or reduce the daily incidence or death rates, resulting in a major crisis of trust between the government and the public. The authors also concluded that some measures were not followed by citizens, as evidenced by their failure to follow preventive measures and the timing of the ban, despite the fact that persuasion was used.