The impact of public health messaging and personal experience on the acceptance of mask wearing during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Face coverings have been shown to slow the spread of COVID-19, yet their use is not universal and remains controversial in the United States. Designing effective nudges for widespread adoption is important when federal mandates are politically or legally infeasible. We report the results from a survey experiment in which subjects were exposed to one of three video messages from President Trump, and then indicated their preference for wearing a mask. In the first video, the President simply recited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines. In the second, the President additionally emphasized that wearing a mask is optional. In the third video, the President added that he will not personally wear a mask. We find that exposure to presidential messages can increase the stated likelihood of wearing a mask—particularly among the President’s supporters. We also explore experiential effects of COVID-19, and find that people (especially supporters of the President) are more likely to support wearing a mask if they know someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. These results offer guidance to policy makers and practitioners interested in understanding the factors that influence viral risk mitigation strategies.

COVID-19 Face Masks as a Long-Term Source of Microplastics in Recycled Urban Green Waste

“…Soon after COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus [1], rapidly developed into a global pandemic in early 2020, many governments at national or state levels enacted public health measures to curb or at least slow the progress of COVID-19. Given that SARS-CoV-2 is primarily transmitted via aerosols emitted while breathing, coughing, or sneezing [2,3], many governments have mandated, or at least recommended, the wearing of fitted face masks [4][5][6][7].…”

Emphasize personal health benefits to boost COVID-19 vaccination rates

“…The COVID-19 vaccine presents a novel context to study hesitancy because of the speed of the vaccine development and political polarization related to the pandemic and the vaccine. We focused on messages that appeal to motivations to take or abstain from taking vaccines (e.g., rather than to psychological effects) ( 11 ), and identified messages with particularly high potential to increase COVID-19 vaccinations, based on literature that examines messages aimed to boost childhood vaccines ( 12 ) and other COVID-19 preventive behavior ( 13 ), as well as worries that deter COVID-19 preventive behavior ( 14 , 15 ).…”

Public concerns and burdens associated with face mask-wearing: Lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Several academic studies provide enough evidence to prove that wearing a mask can effectively reduce infection and mortality rates if more people follow mask-wearing protocols [ 8 ]. Although wearing masks in public has been mandatory in various states in some stages of the pandemic, studies highlight that achieving a goal of widespread mask-wearing adoption in the USA has faced significant challenges even in the presence of federal and state policies [ 9 ]. Moreover, the debate of developing a national mask mandate and federal enforcement has not yet been resolved [ 10 ].…”