“Nudging” to improve QR scanning and mask wearing to protect us all during a pandemic

Monday, July 12th, 2021 | carra86p | 2 Comments

Janet Hoek, Philip Gendall, Nick Wilson (author details*)

A feature of Aotearoa New Zealand’s COVID-19 elimination strategy is the rapid identification and then management of any COVID-19 cases arising from border system failures. Within the community, high QR code scanning rates enable rapid identification of contacts while wearing masks in indoor public settings, such as on public transport, reduces the risk of virus transmission. Yet scanning and mask wearing rates are variable, rising in response to immediate threats and falling off when those threats appear to diminish. While probably desirable to mandate these behaviours in high risk settings at raised Alert Levels, this blog considers the supplementary role for social marketing and environmental strategies that could “nudge” people towards these protective behaviours.

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Social Marketing for Smokefree Aotearoa 2025: Reminding, Reinforcing, and Changing Social Norms

Friday, May 21st, 2021 | carra86p | No Comments

Janet Hoek, Andrew Waa, Nick Wilson, Lindsay Robertson, Phil Gendall, George Thomson*

The NZ Government’s Action Plan to realise the Smokefree 2025 goal has signalled a more important role for social marketing. Social marketing can facilitate and reinforce population-level behaviour change introduced by new policies, thus modifying social norms, which also support long-term improvements in health outcomes. In this blog, we consider the role of social marketing in supporting the Smokefree 2025 goal and review strategies the Government could implement.

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