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Do social media reduce compliance with COVID-19 preventive measures?

ABSTRACT In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities had to take measures to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Since then, various vaccines have been developed. However, countries have not been equally successful in promoting these vaccines. Thus, preventive measures are still necessary in order to contain the COVID-19 virus. Nevertheless, compliance with preventive measures might be affected by the surge of disinformation on social media. Although various studies have examined the factors that predict this compliance, few studies have focused on Eastern European countries or have examined the role played by the types of sources used in gathering information about the pandemic. Thus, the present study investigated the effect the sources of information people use to have on compliance with preventive measures, while controlling for a large number of variables. The research focused on the Cluj metropolitan area, Romania, through a representative survey. The results show that reliance on social media has a negative effect on compliance, while reliance on specialized journals/websites has a positive effect, irrespective of the other factors controlled for. The results also highlight that in order to increase compliance authorities should communicate clearly and with empathy the risk the COVID-19 virus poses to society.