Crisis communication with persuasion: The official Instagram messages of the Bahraini Minister of Health concerning the COVID-19 pandemic in light of the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM)

While social media is being increasingly used for health crisis communication, few studies, especially in the Arab region, have examined the field of crisis management communication from a persuasive perspective. Generally, convincing the public of the importance of such messages is the main criterion in managing any crisis, and especially an international health crisis such as COVID-19, which was declared a pandemic by the WHO on 11 March 2020. This study seeks to identify the methods used to manage the pandemic by the Ministry of Health (MOH) in the Kingdom of Bahrain, in light of persuasive message techniques. The results suggest that the MOH’s Instagram messages promote public common responsibility through many persuasive techniques and strategies. Crisis management messages use a mixture of many techniques, appeals, and persuasive strategies with obvious stress on the “fear” appeal