Inoculation Decreases Uncritical Acceptance of Herbal Product Reporting and Willingness to Engage With TCAM Products: Evidence From Three Preregistered Experiments

Many herbal remedies lacking scientific support receive largely favorable media coverage, misleading consumers. To foster more thoughtful consumption, we developed an inoculation-based strategic intervention: a random news generator exposing media tactics like appeals to nature, tradition, availability, and pseudoscientific jargon. Its effectiveness was tested in three preregistered experiments. In a laboratory study ( N = 243), active use of the generator helped participants counter media strategies, with effects persisting for 11 days. A novel online active inoculation tool also reduced uncritical acceptance of herbal product reporting, intentions to use herbs for health, and trust in complementary and alternative medicine industries/media in both a student ( N = 439) and a community sample ( N = 452). The intervention was especially effective among experiential thinkers and those believing in extrasensory perception. Scalable and resource-efficient, this tool inoculates consumers against misleading media tactics and is adaptable for use across educational, media, and healthcare contexts.