Abstract
Aim: This study aims to investigate Norwegian students' perceptions toward a higher education institution (HEI)'s COVID-19 response strategy, differentiating between three behavioral techniques: informing (i. e., email updates about COVID-19), nudging (i.e., visual cues as reminders), and creating novel opportunities (i.e., provision of antibacterial dispensers). In addition, the study assesses to what extent these perceptions are influenced by COVID-19 related psychological factors: risk perception; attitudes toward infection prevention and control (IPC) behaviors; perceived behavior control; institutional trust.Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among a student population. The survey was developed to evaluate the HEI's response strategy, and distinct perceptions of COVID-19 and related practices. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to estimate the effect of the psychological factors on the attitude toward different behavioral techniques.Results: Creating novel opportunities was perceived most positively from the students, secondly, informing the students through email updates about COVID-19, finally, reminders through visual cues. Institutional trust presented the largest positive effect on informing the students through email updates, while no effect was measured for reminders. Attitudes toward IPC behaviors showed the strongest effect on students' perceptions of new opportunities and reminders, whereas providing email updates about COVID-19 is less affected by pre-existing perceptions.Conclusions: A host of factors such as institutional trust, and perceptions concerning IPC measures and risk severity, influence students' perceptions of different behavior change techniques. This type of knowledge can contribute to understanding how perceptions can impact acceptance and adoption of specific preventive measures within a pandemic response. An assessment as such may result in more ethical and relevant future efforts.
Highlights
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the health, well-being and behaviors of students, and the general population, globally [1]
Reminders were not affected by trust toward the source since attitudes are supposedly established for known information, regardless of who provides it. These results present the importance of trust in a source when providing information, this trust becomes less relevant for lower-processing interventions such as novel opportunities and reminders
Whereas, providing email updates about COVID-19 is less affected by these pre-existing perceptions
Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the health, well-being and behaviors of students, and the general population, globally [1]. It led to the total or partial closure of many higher education institutions (HEIs) campuses, and following, a complete reorganization of their activities including reorienting classes to a digital format. In Norway, all HEIs suspended their on-campus activities on March 12th 2020 [2], until the end of that semester in June. To reopen campus for students school year in August, HEIs implemented a mitigation strategy recommended by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (Folkehelseinstituttet, FHI) [3]. In Norwegian context, wearing face masks was at that moment not included in the recommendations
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