Impact of Railway Delay Announcements on Suicide-Related Associations, Emotions, and Announcement Appreciation: A Replication Study

Background: Previous research has showed that exposure to a postsuicide railway announcement stating that a delay was due to a collision with a person yielded suicide associations and negative emotions. In 2021, the Dutch Railways implemented a new announcement that simply stated a collision had occurred, but its impact has not yet been tested. Aims: This follow-up study investigates the impact of this new announcement on suicide-related explicit associations, negative and positive emotions, and announcement appreciation. We compare it to the previously used announcement collision with a person, as well as to announcements stating that a delay was due to the presence of emergency services and to a collision with an animal (control announcement). Method: A randomized controlled online experiment was conducted in which participants (N = 346) were exposed to one of eight conditions varying across two factors: announcement and personal relevance of the delay. Participants were recruited from the Dutch railway customer panel. Results: The new announcement stating that a delay was due to a collision was less likely to yield associations with suicide than the collision with a person announcement, but more likely to elicit suicide associations compared to the announcement indicating presence of emergency services. However, the latter was the least appreciated delay announcement. Regarding positive and negative emotions, the new collision announcement did not significantly differ from the other announcements. Personally relevant delays yielded greater suicide associations and stronger negative emotions than nonrelevant delays but more willingness to help other passengers. Limitations: The extent to which the scenarios used in the online experiment reflect real-life situations may be limited. Conclusion: Announcement of collision or emergency services is more appropriate than stating collision with a person in a delay announcement.