Use of characters and metaphors in the management of COVID-19 health crisis. Review of public health communication in Spain and Mexico

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20318/recs.2020.5458

Keywords:

pandemic COVID-19, story, hero, Mexico, Spain, crisis communication, Twitter campaign

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected more than 200 countries and there are about 10 million registered cases worldwide. This health crisis is generated sudden changes throughout society, and containing the spread of infection required that citizens be confined in their homes. Consequently, governments designed hygiene measures and implemented immediate actions to safeguard the well-being of their population. The objective of this paper is to learn about the communication strategy used by the public health authorities in Mexico and in Spain in response to the COVID-19 health crisis, and thus to learn about the options for communication resources that can be used in a health emergency situation. The websites and official Twitter profiles of each organization are reviewed to determine what story they created and how they included the use of metaphors in their communication. The main finding is the need to build a message that generates an emotional connection with the audience, giving the necessary prominence to the citizen and taking into consideration the cultural context in which it is acted upon.

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Author Biography

  • Eva Citlali Martínez Estrella, Tecnológico de Monterrey, México, Tecnológico de Monterrey, México

    Comunicóloga, profesional de la educación, docente y ponente internacional en temas de gestión emocional, educación intercultural, formación universitaria y comunicación corporativa. Estudió Comunicación y Medios Digitales en el Tecnológico de Monterrey Ciudad de México, con una especialidad en Comunicación Internacional por Jönköping University, Suecia (2015). Coach educativo certificado por parte de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid (2017) y actualmente, estudiante del Máster en la Comunicación de las Organizaciones en la UCM. Ha sido Directora de Formación y Desarrollo en la Universidad Marista Ciudad de México (2017-2019). Ha publicado en la Revista Chinese Semiotic Studies (2017); y es coautora en el libro Visualidad Totalizante ISBN: 9781710004717.

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Additional Files

Published

2020-07-16

Issue

2020: Suplemento 1

Section

Perspectives

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How to Cite

Use of characters and metaphors in the management of COVID-19 health crisis. Review of public health communication in Spain and Mexico. (2020). Revista Española De Comunicación En Salud , 319-327. https://doi.org/10.20318/recs.2020.5458