Effects of COVID-19 Information Cues on Social Distancing

The intervention consists of manipulation of COVID-19 information in an online survey.

2020-04-03

2020-04-10

(1) Number of weeks that respondents are willing to follow official recommendations to stay at home as much as possible and avoiding all social contact (i.e., adhering to social distancing).

(2) An index of specific social distancing behaviors.

The “social distancing” index is constructed based on responses to five survey items:

To what extent do you agree with the following statements? During the next few weeks…
(a) I will meet with friends or relatives who live outside my own household.
(b) I will make the fewest possible trips to the grocery store.
(c) I will be at places where other people will also be (café, restaurant, specialty shops, church, etc.).
(d) I will avoid all social gatherings (i.e., adhere to so-called “social distancing”).
(e) I will strongly encourage others to avoid all social contact (i.e., adhere to so-called “social distancing”).

As additional analyses, we estimate intention-to-treat effects in relation to four survey items capturing COVID-19-related attitudes and beliefs.

The study involves a five-armed, parallel-design, individually randomized trial—in the form of a split ballot survey experiment. The experiment is carried out among a non-probability sample of US residents. All survey respondents are presented with information about the COVID-19 situation. After an introductory text (identical across experimental conditions), respondents are exposed to one of five informational cues.

The study involves a five-armed, parallel-design, individually randomized trial—in the form of a split ballot survey experiment. The experiment is carried out among a non-probability sample of US residents. Participants are recruited via Prolific. All survey respondents are presented with information about the COVID-19 situation. After an introductory text (identical across experimental conditions), respondents are exposed to one of five informational cues.

One group (control group) receive the following text: “We know that COVID-19 is spreading rapidly. It is true that many people survive the illness. But people with COVID-19 can start spreading the virus days before they realize they have it.”

The remaining respondents receive the same text, but are additionally exposed to one of the following four information cues:

Treatment 1: “Remember, your personal health is at stake. Even young, healthy adults who are exposed to the virus may get seriously ill and require intensive hospital treatment.”
Treatment 2: “Remember, you play a critical role in helping to stop the spread of the virus. Any of us could accidently pass the virus on to a close friend or family member who is not in good health.”
Treatment 3: “Remember, you play a critical role in helping to stop the spread of the virus. Unless we all work together, the virus may spread to the people who are most likely to die from it.”
Treatment 4: “Remember, you play a critical role in helping to stop the spread of the virus. Unless we all work together, the virus may overwhelm our hospitals and they won’t be able to give everyone the treatment they need.”

Randomization is carried out by simple randomization by computer.

Individual survey respondent.

No

1,500 respondents.

1,500 respondents.

300 in Control, 300 in Treatment 1, 300 in Treatment 2, 300 in Treatment 3, and 300 in Treatment 4.

Under the assumption of 1,500 valid responses and balanced groups, our study is powered to enable detecting of effects of f > .10 with high statistical power (Power = .90; alpha = .05, two-tailed).

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