To Get People to Wear Masks, Try Comparing Them to Seatbelts and Helmets
A new survey looks at what the government can do to influence mask-wearing. Only one message had any positive effect.
Illinois is running an ad campaign comparing masks to helmets and seatbelts, after a survey showed it was the most effective message.
OKRP
Is there anything the government can say to get people to wear masks during a pandemic? There’s one message that had some positive effect, at least in Illinois.
A recent survey of more than than 2,000 state residents offered respondents five different messages and gauged whether they made people more or less likely to wear a mask in public, as compared to a control group that saw no message. Comparing masks to helmets and seatbelts was the only message that had a positive impact on people’s decisions.