Effectiveness of Innovation Media for Improving Physical Distancing Compliance during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Quasi-Experiment in Thailand

Abstract

To flatten the curve of COVID-19 infections, with no effective pharmacological interventions or vaccine available in the imminent future, public health responses must continue to rely on non-pharmacological interventions. We developed three innovation media to promote physical distancing compliance (i.e., a fearful picture, a red one-way arrow sign, and a norm-speech sticker). This study aimed to compare physical distancing compliance between our interventions and conventional interventions. Our study was a quasi-experiment, and we observed a representative sample of university canteen customers via closed-circuit television (CCTV). Each intervention was monitored over non-prime-time hours, per day, on 6-9 August 2020. Among the 400 participants (100 participants in each group), their age group, gender, and physical distancing practices were observed in a university canteen. The number of failures of physical distancing ranged between 93.8% and 17.6%, and on average between 84.2% and 34.2%, dependent on the intervention and the marking point. There were no statistically significant differences in promoting physical distancing compliance between our interventions compared with conventional interventions. However, the participants tended to practice physical distancing at the back of the queue more than at the front, regardless of the interventions.

Keywords: COVID-19; innovation media; physical distancing.

Figure 1

Innovation media: (A) Conventional, (B) fearful picture, (C) red one-way arrow sign, and (D) norm-speech sticker (e.g., “Please maintain a distance from other customers”, “Physical distancing and Win COVID-19”, and “Please queue here”).

Figure 2

The percentage of recorded failures of physical distancing according to the marking point.