Publication

Abstract : Aims: Social distancing contains the coronavirus but compliance with social distancing is challenging. Previous studies called to enhance compliance by culturally adaptive messages. We fill the gap in the state of the art testing the power of specific messages as drivers of willingness to comply. Methods: The sample comprised 277 residents of Mumbai India, who self-classified themselves into one of four religious-cultural groups. A conjoint-based experimental-design was applied with willingness to comply as the dependent variable and contributors to compliance as independent variables. Results: Regression coefficients for the total panel suggested minor differences in the power of messages. Commonalities in response patterns yielded three distinct mindsets transcending cultures: people seeking to assure compliance; people focusing on the policy communicator; and people focusing on risks of coronavirus. Different messages drive willingness to comply among members of each mindset. Conclusions: A web-based prediction tool enables to identify the mindset-belonging of individuals/groups and use mindset-tailored messaging to enhance compliance.