REACH VERSUS RELEVANCE: PUBLIC SERVICE MESSAGES, SOCIAL MEDIA AND SMOG-PROTECTIVE BEHAVIOR IN FAISALABAD, PAKISTAN

Abstract

Punjab’s health agencies increasingly issue smog advisories through social media. This study examined whether the media channels residents are most exposed to are also those associated with protective action. Adults (N = 400) across all six tehsils of District Faisalabad, Pakistan, were surveyed during the 2025–2026 smog season. Media exposure was measured as attention to smog-related content in eight channels, alongside four actions: wearing a mask, staying at home, using an air purifier and changing diet. Robust regression with demographic controls and dominance analysis were used. Exposure was highest for social networking sites (M = 3.28) and user-generated video (M = 3.17) and lowest for public service messages (M = 2.29). The channels explained an additional 18.3–26.1% of the variance in individual actions and 33.4% in the composite. Public service messages were the only channel uniquely associated with all four actions (β = .15–.22), accounting for a quarter of the explained variance, whereas social networking sites and user-generated content showed no unique association. Blogs and wikis were linked to air-purifier use and documentaries to mask-wearing; logistic models confirmed the pattern. Greater media exposure does not by itself produce protection; agencies should place actionable, public-service-style content on the platforms