Mask Appeal: a checklist for prosocial messaging campaigns such as COVID-19 prevention

There is a growing body of evidence stating that proper mask wearing can lessen the spread of COVID-19. An individual may not enjoy following this practice. In fact, one might think it is a burden or an assault on individual liberty. Nonetheless, there are ways to nudge people toward public health best practice. Erez Yoeli and David Rand recently published a paper outlining a three-point checklist for convincing messaging.
To encourage people to act in ways that benefit the collective good, the first point is to communicate the benefit to the community. This goal is “to ‘activate’ people’s desire to be seen as a good member of society, and their intuition that this ask will be socially enforced.” Use the fact that people really do care what others think of them.

Second, it must be obvious when someone is not complying with the message. For that reason, the message should be “unambiguous, categorical, and concise”.  It should be easy to understand how to follow the directive, and how to tell when other people are not.
Finally, the message should make it clear that people are expected to follow the instruction. It is also helpful if those who are asking for a behavior engage in that behavior themselves. “Practice what you preach” is especially useful.

Erez Yoeli also took part in a conversation on this topic on NPR’s Planet Money. Hear that episode here.