AUTHOR=Booker Lauren A. , Cordon Emma L. , Pedersen Hanne Sæderup , Fosgerau Christina Fogtmann , Egerton Simon , Chan Carina K. Y. , Skinner Timothy C. 

TITLE=Different Behavior-Change Messaging Techniques Do Not Increase Customers’ Hand Sanitization Adherence During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Natural Behavioral Study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.876131

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2022.876131

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=Introduction: Hand hygiene is an integral public health strategy in reducing the transmission of COVID-19, yet past research has shown hand hygiene practices amongst the public is sub-optimal. This study aimed to: (1) quantify hand sanitization rates amongst the public to minimize the transmission of COVID-19; and (2) evaluate whether different public health messaging, based on various behavior-change theories influences hand hygiene behavior in a natural setting. 
Methods: A observational naturalistic study design was used, with real-time customer activity data recorded against hand sanitizer usage in a regional hardware store. Primary outcome from the study was to measure the usage ratio by counting the amount of activity versus usage of hand sanitizer per hour against individual messages based on their behavioral change technique (BCT). 
Results: There was no significant difference between the baseline message and any of the intervention messages [F(16,904)=1.19, p=.279) or between BCT groups [F(3,906)=1.33, p=.263]. Post hoc tests showed no significant difference between messages (Social comparison, p= .395; Information, p=1.00; Action planning, p=1.00). 
Conclusions: This study showed that even during a pandemic compliance didn’t shift and that non-enforced, hand hygiene in a public setting was not dependent on the public message displayed. this raises questions on whether requirements imposed on businesses to provide hand sanitizer to patrons are an ineffective and unnecessary economic burden.