A simple message and two framings to enhance protective behaviours adoption in a pandemic

The paper tests the effect of a simple message and its framing on personal protective behaviours, using a survey experiment during the first Italian lockdown. Findings reveal that, for washing hands and using a face cover, intentions to comply are higher with the message and do not differ by message type. For physical distance, there is no difference due to the introduction of any message. Compliance is higher for females and increases with age. Looking at males separately a treatment effect exists: the negatively framed message is more effective. In a follow-up survey, a selected subsample of subjects reports their actual engagement. The gap is the largest relative to physical distance. To be useful a message has to be timing and can just remind a simple point. The content and the frame of the message have limited importance.