None of us can escape the Coronavirus web of conversation. It’s the focus of major decisions, compliance instructions, fears and stockpiling.

The pandemic COVID-19 is testing all organisational crisis plans, communication tactics and leadership decisions. It is throwing supply chains into chaos globally. People, rightly, are unsure how to react and how to behave.

So why do leaders struggle to provide localised messages to answer the important questions and get people on board with behaviour change?

Communication, economic and human behaviour experts from Synergy, Dr David Schmidtchen and Jason Perelson, explore the concept of how organisations can influence behaviour change – by using emotion, transparency and localised responses.

Make it personal

COVID-19 is inducing anxiety due to its uncertainty and rapid progression. We’re supplied with information that’s very practical: hand washing, staying at home if you’re sick, avoiding shaking hands in meetings. Some of these instructions address our need for control. But is practical information enough?

“The experts and scientists are sharing information, but community-based information is more likely to shift behaviours – to distil or reinforce the facts,” says Jason. “People are more likely to change behaviours if they’re getting the message in simple terms from someone local or connected to them – someone they trust.”

“If you see someone you trust rushing to buy toilet paper, you figure there’s a legitimate need to act, whether it’s rational or not,” says David. “It’s emotional contagion.”

“People are more likely to change behaviours if they’re getting the message in simple terms from someone local or connected to them – someone they trust.”

“For government teams, you must address the needs of your people, not only pass on the practical advice. People want to know about what happens if they need to work remotely. They want to know what they do if they’re quarantined for 14 days. How will they stay connected? They want to know that we’re all doing this for the greater good.” If we don’t provide answers to our people’s concerns (internally and externally), they’ll fill the uncertainty with fragmented gossip or social media hype.

“As managers, parents, friends, we need to focus on the behaviour you want people to show; to give people the guiderails or principles to adhere to,” says David. “The closer the expert is to me, the more connected I’ll be to the message.

“It’s people’s behaviour change that’s going to prevent transmission.”

Crisis response engagement

In times of crisis, brand communication is very important.

“You need to focus on the behaviour you want people to show,” says David. “It has to be contextualised.”

A good example is Vietnam’s rapid creation of a simple animated video about Coronavirus, reflecting the need to impart simple, serious messages in a fun, engaging way.

“The catchy song is an earworm!” says Jason. “It included a dance, got traction on TikTok – it went viral. It was an incredibly smart and highly successful way of communicating a fairly boring message, especially for encouraging behaviour change in kids. It was practical, personal and local. It provided context.

“For organisations, crisis builds character, but also demonstrates it. It’s as much how you survive a crisis as how you work with your people. It’s how you act now that has an ongoing brand association.”

Government departments need to consider both their external and internal responses.

“You can talk at me or go through this with me,” says Jason. “Make messages matter. That will be the shift in how I engage with government departments now and in the future.”

“The closer the expert is to me, the more connected I’ll be to the message.”

Human motivations

During the recent bushfire crisis, people connected with the leaders who were clear, and emotionally connected with what was happening to people on the ground.

“You can’t connect with facts alone. Just like Georgina Whelan and the ACT Emergency Services, the messaging was consistent, timely, accessible, genuine – it became ‘my emergency services’,” says David.

The principles of advertising are essentially built on behaviour change: to get people to think and feel.

“The emotional reward is underpinned by the functional benefit or reason to believe,” says Jason. “You have to show the emotional benefit before the functional benefit – to convince me that it will meet a need.”

Once people are connected to an idea, they’ll find a way to undertake the behaviour.

“More often than not, we’re ticking off the functional aspects of behaviour change in COVID-19 messaging,” says Jason. “What about the motivation? What’s in it for me isn’t necessarily answered – we don’t want people to focus on themselves alone – what can I do help others?

“We need to explain, “Why?”. For example, “we’re reducing the spread to free up hospital beds for those who really need them”. By little behaviour changes individually, we’re making a difference for the greater good. And most people want to do good in the world.”

Supporting the changes

Social norms are changing.

“We all need to be the bystanders that support new behaviours, in messaging and in our own behaviours – this will reinforce a new community standard,” says David.

About Synergy Group

Our work, across a broad range of capabilities, is focused on government entities.

If you are ready to respond and change together, contact us today.