COVID-19: Ambiguous messages will generate mixed response
11 May 2020
Dr Rachel McCloy, Associate Professor in Applied Behavioural Science at the University of Reading, said:
"The most notable thing about the address and change to the slogan was an increase in the ambiguity of what is being asked of people.
"The new messages - Stay at home as much as possible, work from home if you can, limit contact with other people - all contain phrases (as much as possible/if you can/limit) that leave room for interpretation.
"This is likely to lead to a wider divergence in the types of behaviour that we see, with those keen to leave home to work and see others seeing this as more of a loosening of restrictions than it is intended to be, and those who remain concerned about the risks of changing our behaviour seeing little change from what we've been asked to do before.
"Behavioural scientists advising the Government have warned against the dangers of ambiguous messaging, and this is particularly concerning for workers who are beings asked to return to work if it is safe to do so today, with no clear information yet provided about what 'safe' looks like."