In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the quest for effective health promotion strategies continues to take center stage. Unearthing a pioneering approach, new research illuminates how organizations can utilize visual prompts on social media to foster safety-conscious conduct, thus enhancing public health outcomes in relation to future health crises.
Intriguingly, the study also unveiled the temporal and dynamic effects of visual prompts on case rates. The impact of these visual prompts was most potent when issued three to five weeks in advance, on average, uncovering a latent capacity of social media engagement in promoting safety-conscious conduct.
Given the ambiguities borne out of the pandemic, motivating the public to adopt conduct known to mitigate virus spread is paramount. Emerging public health research suggests that explicit policies and mandates may be insufficient to secure maximum compliance amid health crises replete with uncertainty.
The significance of the study is tripartite. Firstly, it augments the body of knowledge straddling information systems and public health, elucidating the relationship between institutional actors' engagement on social media through"soft" prompts in the form of visual images and health-related outcomes. Secondly, it unveils the mechanism underpinning the effect of visual prompts from a temporal viewpoint, illuminating the delayed correlation between image exposure and outcomes.