Research on advertising reports in Illinois suggests that face masks may borrow some of the hard-hitting lifesaving cache seats built in the last six decades. Indeed, the struggle for national acceptance of belts can teach us a great deal about how people respond to face masks, and hopefully, allow us to respond more quickly to mass wearing of masks.
A new study on effective messaging in Illinois by Civis Analytics found that 92 percent of respondents were more likely to wear a mask after displaying ads that resembled masks, three percent more as those who do not, according to Bloomberg.
About 92% of the respondents who received the message showed that masks compared to helmets and belts would probably wear a mask, compared to 89% of the respondents in the control group. An increase of 3 percentage points may not seem like much, but Civis says that messages like these tend to have a lower effect on problems that people have already highly exposed to. “People have heard so much about it that their opinions are held strong,” Crystal Son, director of health care analysis at Civis, said in an email. “Seen the saturation of messaging around Covid and masks, a 3 [percentage point] treatment effect is both statistically significant and meaningful. ”
Currently, apparently only 66 percent of Illinois residents say they wear a mask every time they leave the house. That is much higher than the national average of 44 percent, according to a Gallup interviewer. And that is in a state that will punish companies for not enforcing mask wear on their buildings and recently it has committed a federal crime to prosecute workers who enforce such rules.
They are serious about masks in Illinois, but still have a long way to go to get even closer to the levels of seat compliance. Today, Americans are 90 percent satisfied with wearing belts, which is up from just 14 percent as recently as the 1980s, according to the National Administration Highway Traffic Safety. Seating saved 15,000 lives in 2016, but could have saved 2,500 more if compliance was 100 percent.
G / O Media can get a commission
While the National Road Safety and Motor Safety Act obliged motorists to install belts back in the 1960s, there was nothing that required their use by drivers and passengers. Although it was car manufacturers who were the loudest opponents of belts, Americans had individual reasons for not wearing them that sounded a lot like those who are against masks today. CNN has a good overview of the two main arguments used then and today:
Doubtful scientific claims: Like opponents of masks, chamberlains and lobbyists show vicious claims that wearing a belt could cause more damage than good.
They have the baseless idea of ”clearly expelled”, or thrown by accident when you get out of a car instead of instead of strapping inside. Being ‘fired’ from an accident was considered safer than getting stuck in a car.
People who refuse masks show the same unpredictable theories, such as masks are ineffective and hinder breathing, or that states are inflating the number of deaths they report to make the pandemic worse than it is.
Problems of freedom and fear: Seating was seen as a violation of personal freedoms by some – a well-known argument against masks.
Cars represented freedom. Driving had to be liberating, not restrictive (or at least that’s how coaches marketed their products), Albert said. The famed automaker Harley Earl once said he designed cars so drivers could have a “little vacation.”
Car companies were worried that the holiday would end once belts were installed. Lost would be the romance of driving, replaced by fear and caution about the dangers of the open road.
It took two decades before the first belts laws were introduced and there is no national legislative belt law yet, although New Hampshire is the only state without belts legislation.
Clearly, the best way to gain masks widespread acceptance is to hammer out their health benefits at home while only becoming commonplace. Laws that prevent entry into restaurants and businesses are a start, but it shifts the responsibility to business owners, not individuals. Seat belt attachment has really increased with campaigns like “Click It or Ticket.” The fastest way to get the maskless audience on board is to make it a little financially painful for them, which means passing on and enforcing face mask laws. With enough roots and sticks we can hopefully make the mass uptake of these rescue devices faster.
.
