Comparison of Mask Perceptions and Marketing within Bay Area and Southern California counties
Location
Online - Session 1C
Start Date
4-21-2021 10:30 AM
Major Field of Study
Global Public Health
Student Type
Undergraduate
Faculty Mentor(s)
Brett Bayles, PhD
Presentation Format
Poster Presentation
Abstract/Description
Comparison of Mask Perceptions and Marketing within Bay Area and Southern California counties
Gabriellah Agar
This paper compares Northern and Southern California counties in how effective public health mask messaging is during a pandemic in the age of social media.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, non-pharmaceutical interventions such as stay-at-home orders, mask-wearing, social distancing, and hand-washing have been put into place to prevent the spread in public spaces. In the U.S, the state of California was the first to enforce a stay-at-home order and mask-wearing in public spaces. Due to U.S history of people showing a feeling of mistrust and rebellion against the government, the mandatory mask-wearing has caused a divide between those who feel that mask-wearing helps in reducing transmission and protects themselves versus those who feel as if they have the right not to wear one despite the science behind it. This divide was fueled by President Trump’s administration who did not adequately display a following of public health protocols or promote public health messaging at the start of the pandemic. This led to the President testing positive for COVID-19 as well as making up a large share of the infodemic surrounding misinformation on COVID-19 (1). With this said, there is a mask-wearing gap within the U.S due to public health messaging or lack of, addressing the American people's feelings and concerns. In a mixed-methods study, a content analysis of mask messages was conducted to identify and assess the public health messaging towards the concerns and misunderstanding of wearing masks in public with the counties public health departments pages located on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram in the state of California dating from when each county had the mask mandate in place. As well as gathering political data on the recent election within those counties to show a correlation between a political party and adherence to public health orders. The reason for comparison is because the six Bay Area counties were the first in the nation to come together to mandate a Shelter in Place order. And while Southern California followed the statewide order, there is a huge disproportion in the number of positive coronavirus cases here than in the Bay Area due to the gap in wearing masks (Table 1). Data analysis shows that the public health messaging in Bay Area counties effectively addresses all the public needs surrounding mask-wearing. While 5 out of 8 Southern California counties’ public health messaging met all of the public needs surrounding mask-wearing. The one concern those 3 Southern California counties did not meet was “Independence: Facemasks infringe upon freedom and independence” (Table 2).
Comparison of Mask Perceptions and Marketing within Bay Area and Southern California counties
Online - Session 1C
Comparison of Mask Perceptions and Marketing within Bay Area and Southern California counties
Gabriellah Agar
This paper compares Northern and Southern California counties in how effective public health mask messaging is during a pandemic in the age of social media.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, non-pharmaceutical interventions such as stay-at-home orders, mask-wearing, social distancing, and hand-washing have been put into place to prevent the spread in public spaces. In the U.S, the state of California was the first to enforce a stay-at-home order and mask-wearing in public spaces. Due to U.S history of people showing a feeling of mistrust and rebellion against the government, the mandatory mask-wearing has caused a divide between those who feel that mask-wearing helps in reducing transmission and protects themselves versus those who feel as if they have the right not to wear one despite the science behind it. This divide was fueled by President Trump’s administration who did not adequately display a following of public health protocols or promote public health messaging at the start of the pandemic. This led to the President testing positive for COVID-19 as well as making up a large share of the infodemic surrounding misinformation on COVID-19 (1). With this said, there is a mask-wearing gap within the U.S due to public health messaging or lack of, addressing the American people's feelings and concerns. In a mixed-methods study, a content analysis of mask messages was conducted to identify and assess the public health messaging towards the concerns and misunderstanding of wearing masks in public with the counties public health departments pages located on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram in the state of California dating from when each county had the mask mandate in place. As well as gathering political data on the recent election within those counties to show a correlation between a political party and adherence to public health orders. The reason for comparison is because the six Bay Area counties were the first in the nation to come together to mandate a Shelter in Place order. And while Southern California followed the statewide order, there is a huge disproportion in the number of positive coronavirus cases here than in the Bay Area due to the gap in wearing masks (Table 1). Data analysis shows that the public health messaging in Bay Area counties effectively addresses all the public needs surrounding mask-wearing. While 5 out of 8 Southern California counties’ public health messaging met all of the public needs surrounding mask-wearing. The one concern those 3 Southern California counties did not meet was “Independence: Facemasks infringe upon freedom and independence” (Table 2).