The influence of social conformity on mask-wearing behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216224%3A14560%2F23%3A00131470" target="_blank" >RIV/00216224:14560/23:00131470 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://www.cell.com/heliyon/pdf/S2405-8440(23)01703-6.pdf" target="_blank" >https://www.cell.com/heliyon/pdf/S2405-8440(23)01703-6.pdf</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e14496" target="_blank" >10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e14496</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

The influence of social conformity on mask-wearing behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic

Original language description

Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to vaccination, health authorities have strongly advocated the wearing of face masks as a crucial measure in combating the virus. Nevertheless, the recommendation or legal requirement to wear a face mask is no guarantee of adherence to the rules. A person's decision to wear a mask may also be based on their beliefs and is likely to be influenced by their observation of the mask-wearing behavior of other people. This study aims to explore the role of conformity on the wearing of masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Given that there is little evidence on how the mask-wearing behavior of others and demographic factors affect people's decisions to wear face masks in public settings, we performed a large-scale observational study in the Czech Republic during a period of rapidly increasing COVID-19 related cases and deaths. We observed a total of 1753 customers and 472 employees in 67 highly frequented shopping venues. The data were collected by trained observers and analyzed using multilevel logistic regression modeling. The results indicate that the mask-wearing behavior of new customers was influenced by the proportion of other customers wearing masks and the behavior differed according to the demographics of age and sex. A notable finding was that the greater the presence of customers wearing masks in a store, the lower the propensity of new visitors to wear masks. Which may be evidence of problematic free-riding behavior. These findings therefore have policy implications and can aid the formulation of specific (communi-cation) strategies to promote mask-wearing behavior.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

50204 - Business and management

Project

—

Continuities

S - Specificky vyzkum na vysokych skolach

Publication year

2023

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Heliyon

ISSN

2405-8440

e-ISSN

—

Volume of the periodical

9

Issue of the periodical within the volume

3

Country of publishing house

GB - UNITED KINGDOM

Number of pages

11

Pages from-to

1-11

UT code for WoS article

000969107100001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85150060552