Motivating Factors of Compliance to Government's COVID-19 Preventive Guidelines: An Investigation Using Discrete Choice Model

Background: The spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has resulted in a worldwide pandemic. We aimed to identify the factors that motivate public compliance with the government's COVID-19 preventive recommendations.

Methods: Focus group interviews were conducted to identify influencing factors. The relative importance of each factor was investigated through a survey, based on a discrete choice model, from February to June, 2021 in South Korea.

Results: "Severity of COVID-19 symptoms" (relative importance [magnitude of attribute coefficients]: 28.40%) and "risk of infection" (27.50%) were the most influential health-related factors, followed by social consequences of infection, including "cessation of social activities due to self-quarantine" (19.77%), "risk of personal information being disclosed when infected and social criticism on the infected person" (15.78%), and "risk of spreading infection" (8.55%). Respondents behaved differently based on their socioeconomic characteristics and COVID-19 experience.

Discussion: The perceived severity of symptoms was a strong motivator among fragile individuals, such as women and older adults. "Cessation of social activities" was the most influential factor for those infected with COVID-19, while "risk of infection" was for those whose acquaintances were infected.

Conclusions: The provision of information regarding COVID-19 to the public must be tailored based on an understanding of behavioral differences.