COVID-19 Communication Messaging and Culture: A Survey of Latino and Non-Latino Americans

Abstract

Major disasters and public health crises require effective communication strategies to disseminate vital information and save lives. During the recent COVID-19 pandemic, use of digital communication to communicate information became critical as governments enacted measures to protect public health, including COVID-19 curtailment strategies intended to save lives. To increase response effectiveness to critically important messaging, it is imperative to understand how to communicate with different communities to best achieve cooperation and compliance. Studies have identified culture as being a strong determinant of how people reacted to COVID-19 messaging. The following chapter describes a survey of 184 Hispanic and Latino Americans and non-Hispanic and Latino Americans to determine their attitudes towards COVID-19 mitigation protocol compliance and effective messaging strategies. The study found that significant differences between Hispanic and Latino and non- Hispanic and Latino culture and preferences for specific messaging strategies during the pandemic.