Cultural, Behavioral and Media Insights Centre (CUBE)

The Cultural, Behavioral and Media Insights Centre (CUBE) aims to develop activities and practices for public health and welfare, in order to make them more effective and sustainable by strengthening research knowledge and activities on health perceptions, communication, behaviour and policy measures.

The CUBE makes versatile use of research methods from various fields and works in close co-operation with both Finnish and international partners.

Topics

The CUBE will work, in particular, on the topics listed below. The application of research-based knowledge and strengthening its effectiveness play a key role in them. Preparedness – knowledge and understanding of what affects people's behaviour, perceptions and communication in crises – is also an important part of the CUBE.

Communications:

The current communication and societal climate include several challenging phenomena, such as mis- and disinformation, polarisation, alarmism and their occurrence in traditional and social media. We study and promote influencing by information in situations where communication is affected by many, sometimes conflicting issues.

Culture and society:

Different perceptions and attitudes in society can also have a significant impact on the realisation of work related to health and welfare. The aim is to study, for example, the spread of misconceptions and beliefs and to reinforce the significance of conceptions based on research-based knowledge in society.

Behaviour:

People's behaviour and thinking are guided by different features and models, such as cognitive biases, which may conflict with consistent thinking and behaviour. The aim is to promote healthy behaviour and choices in different population groups in different fields of public health by increasing understanding of different human tendencies to perceive and interpret matters.

Policy measures:

Decision-making related to health is influenced by many factors, and expert work and decision-making may also be under external pressure. We strive to strengthen the functional capacity and effectiveness of decision-making by strengthening the role research-based knowledge.