Dept. of Economics, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Dept. of Economics and Center for Economic Behaviour and Inequality, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
PLoS One. 2021 Dec 2;16(12):e0260457. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0260457. eCollection 2021.
Do reminders to promote social distancing achieve the desired effects on behavior? Much of the existing literature analyses impacts on people's intentions to comply. We run a randomised controlled trial in Denmark to test different versions of a reminder to stay home at the beginning of the crisis. Using a two-stage design, we follow up with recipients and analyse their subsequent self-reported behaviour. We find that the reminder increases ex-ante intentions to comply when it emphasises the consequences of non-compliance for the subjects themselves and their families, while it has no effect when the emphasis is on other people or the country as a whole. We also find, however, that impacts on intentions do not translate into equivalent impacts on actions. Only people in poor health react to the reminder by staying home significantly more. Our results shed light on important gaps between people's intentions and their actions in responding to the recommendations of health authorities.
提醒人们保持社交距离能达到预期的行为效果吗？现有文献大多分析了对人们遵守意愿的影响。我们在丹麦进行了一项随机对照试验，以测试危机开始时不同版本的留在家中提醒。我们采用两阶段设计，对收件人进行跟进，并分析他们随后的自我报告行为。我们发现，当提醒强调不遵守规定对自身及其家人的后果时，会增加遵守规定的事前意愿，但当强调的是其他人或整个国家时，提醒则没有效果。然而，我们还发现，对意愿的影响并没有转化为对行动的同等影响。只有身体不好的人才会因为提醒而显著更多地待在家里。我们的研究结果揭示了人们对卫生当局建议的反应中，意图和行动之间存在的重要差距。
