The Expressive Role of Regulation: A Comparative Analysis of Intervention Types and Contexts

This study examines the expressive role of regulation: how different types of regulatory interventions signal the importance of a policy issue to the public. Using a large-scale experimental design across health and environmental contexts, we compare coercive measures (e.g., taxation) with soft paternalistic interventions (e.g., labeling nudges) and a control condition. We assess how these interventions shape perceived issue importance, anticipated public behavior, and perceptions of regulator commitment and confidence, while examining the moderating role of trust in the regulator. The study contributes to understanding how regulatory design influences public perceptions beyond direct behavioral incentives. The core research question is how distinct regulatory intervention types-coercive measures (taxation) versus soft paternalistic measures (mandatory labelling systems), influence the public’s perception of the regulated issue’s importance, the measure’s anticipated efficacy, and the regulator’s commitment, across diverse policy contexts: public health and environmental protection.