Face masks need the kind of marketing that sold America on seat belts

Advertising research in Illinois suggests face masks may be able to borrow some of the hard-earned life-saving hide seat belts over the past six decades. Indeed, the fight for national acceptance of seat belts can teach us a lot about how people respond to face masks and, hopefully, allow us to shift more quickly to wearing mass masks.

A new study on the effective messaging of face masks in Illinois by Civis Analytics found that 92% of respondents were more likely to wear a mask after seeing an ad comparing masks to seat belts, 3% more than those who did not, according to Bloomberg.

About 92% of respondents who were shown the message comparing masks to helmets and seat belts were likely to wear a mask, compared to 89% of respondents in the control group. An increase of 3 percentage points may not seem like a lot, but Civis says posts like these tend to have a smaller effect on issues people have. already been heavily exposed. “People have heard so much about it that their opinions are strongly shared,” Crystal Son, director of healthcare analysis at Civis, said in an email. “Given the saturation of messaging around Covid and masks, a 3 [percentage point] the effect of treatment is both statistically significant and significant. “

Right now, only 66% of Illinois residents say they wear a mask every time they leave home. That’s much higher than the national average of 44%, according to a Gallup survey. And it’s in a state that will penalize companies for not enforcing mask-wearing on their premises and recently made it a federal offense to assault workers who enforce those rules.

They’re serious about face masks in Illinois, but still have a long way to go to get closer to seat belt compliance levels. Today, Americans 90% respect the wearing of seat belts, down from just 14% in the 80s, according to the National Road Safety Administration. Seat belts saved 15,000 lives in 2016, but could have saved 2,500 more if compliance was 100%.

While the National Road and Automobile Safety Act Forced car manufacturers to install seat belts in the 1960s, there was no requirement for their use by drivers and passengers. Although it was the automakers who were the strongest opponents of seat belts, Americans had individual reasons for not wearing them that closely resemble those against masks today. CNN presents a good overview of the two main arguments used then and today:

Questionable scientific claims: Like opponents of masks, automakers and lobbyists have touted opaque claims that wearing a seat belt can do more harm than good.

They perpetuated the baseless idea of ​​being “thrown out”, or kicked out of an accident when you are kicked out of a car instead of being strapped inside. Being “kicked” out of an accident was considered safer than being trapped inside a vehicle.

People who refuse masks tout equally unproven theories, such as that masks are ineffective and obstruct breathing, or that conditions are inflating the number of deaths they report make the pandemic look worse than it is.

Freedom and fear issues: Seat belts were seen as an infringement of personal freedoms by some – a familiar argument against masks.

Cars represented freedom. The driving was meant to be liberating and not restrictive (or at least that’s how automakers market their products), Albert said. The Famed automaker Harley Earl once said he designed cars so that drivers could have “a little vacation for a while”.

Automakers feared the holidays would end after seat belts were installed. Gone are the romanticism of driving, replaced by fear and caution in the face of the dangers of the open road.

It took two decades before the first seat belt laws were introduced and there is still no national seat belt law, although New Hampshire is the only state without any seat belt laws. security.

Obviously, the best way to get masks to gain wide acceptance is to highlight their health benefits while making them ubiquitous. Laws preventing entry into restaurants and businesses are a start, but they shift the responsibility to business owners, not individuals. The grip of seat belts has really increased thanks to campaigns such as “Click It Or Ticket”. The quickest way to get the maskless crowd on board is to make it a bit financially taxing on them, which means passing and enforcing face mask laws. With enough carrots and sticks, we can hopefully accelerate the mass adoption of these vital devices.