Using Implementation Intentions Plans to Support Public Use of Face Coverings

Background and study aims

The investigators' previous research showed high levels of adherence to government instructions among a representative sample of the UK adult population during the COVID-19 pandemic (April 2020). The investigators were also able to provide concrete recommendations for interventions to support people's capabilities, opportunities and motivations in order to sustain behaviour change in the long term. One key recommendation was that interventions designed to bolster people's "automatic motivation" (i.e., habits, emotions) would likely lead to the largest improvements in adherence.

However, the research is limited by not looking separately at face coverings, which were not recommended at the time (April 2020), but were made mandatory in certain settings by July 2020. Since July 2020 Government guidance on whether or not people should wear face coverings to protect themselves and others in various settings has fluctuated and is currently (Feb 10 2022) 'recommended'. Vacillations in government advice may undermine future attempts to reinstate mandatory wearing of face coverings, when the need arises.

The investigators' more recent work on the wearing of face coverings specifically, carried out with opportunistic samples of 297 participants from two UK Universities, showed high levels of adherence to face coverings and similarly found that interventions designed to target automatic motivation would similarly have the largest benefits for increasing adherence.

The question then arises as to how one changes automatic motivation at scale in a public health setting. There is a long track record of research showing that implementation intentions are an effective means of changing behaviour, and that such changes in behaviour can be sustained over years. Implementation intentions help people overcome automatic motivation by making the critical situations that may elicit unwanted habits more salient, and ensuring that alternative strategies are deployed. They are best thought of as "if-then" plans: specifying an "if" ensures that triggers to unwanted habits receive greater attention and linking "ifs" with "thens" (e.g., seeking help from someone) ensures that the appropriate responses are automatized and replace the unwanted habit. Forming "if-then" plans thus overcome habits.