To wear or not to wear? The influence of regulatory focus and individual cultural orientation on face mask wearing

• Published date: 01 July 2023
• Author: Yuan Wen,Shipra Gupta,Merve Coskun
• Date: 01 July 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12528

RESEARCH ARTICLE

To wear or not to wear? The influence

of regulatory focus and individual cultural

orientation on face mask wearing

Yuan Wen

1

| Shipra Gupta

1

| Merve Coskun

2

1

University of Illinois Springfield,

One University Plaza, Springfield,

Illinois, USA

2

Department of International Trade and

Business, Izmir Bakırcay University,

Menemen, Izmir, Turkey

Correspondence

Yuan Wen, University of Illinois

Springfield, One University Plaza,

Springfield, IL 62703-5407, USA.

Email: ywen25@uis.edu

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, much focus has been

placed on the healthcare benefits of wearing face

masks, yet some people resist wearing them. Though

mask mandates may enhance face mask adoption in

the short run, the effectiveness of such mandates, in

the long run, remains questionable. Thus, understand-

ing of psychological and sociological mechanisms

behind wearing face masks becomes pertinent. This

study by examining these underlying mechanisms,

tends to answer two research questions: (1) How does

regulatory focus impact one's behavior to wear face

masks? (2) How does the impact of regulatory focus on

this behavior vary under different cultural orientations?

Drawing on the theory of regulatory fit, we found that

people with a prevention focus will have fewer con-

cerns about wearing face masks than people with a pro-

motion focus. In addition, we also found that

prevention-focused people who exhibited a cultural ori-

entation with higher levels of collectivism, masculinity,

power distance, and uncertainty avoidance had fewer

concerns about face mask wearing perception and were

more likely to wear face masks than did promotion-

focused people with the same cultural orientation. The

implications of these findings on the relevant literature

and practice are also discussed.

Received: 22 July 2022 Revised: 30 March 2023 Accepted: 11 April 2023

DOI: 10.1111/joca.12528

© 2023 American Council on Consumer Interests.

1324 J Consum Aff. 2023;57:1324–1351.

wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/joca

KEYWORDS

cultural orientation, face mask wearing, regulatory fit,

regulatory focus

1|INTRODUCTION

Face mask wearing is an important preventive COVID-19 public health measure. Since mid-

2020, the face mask has been an extremely valuable tool for reducing airborne transmission of

viruses and resulting illnesses (Goh et al., 2020; Howard, 2021; Leung et al., 2020). Mask use

has been shown to be a successful proactive public health intervention, saving lives and reduc-

ing future public health burdens (Haischer et al., 2020). Nevertheless, many balked at what

others considered to be a simple, straightforward way to protect against the spread of the virus.

To date, research has closely examined the clinical aspects of wearing face masks and a few

studies have examined the face masks wearing perceptions (e.g., Howard, 2021; Luo et al., 2021;

Schneider & Leonard, 2022; Vann et al., 2022), yet more psychological and sociological mecha-

nisms behind wearing face masks remains largely unexamined. This research gap is imperative

to be addressed for multiple reasons. First, although wearing a face mask is an efficient way to

protect ourselves (e.g., Kemmelmeier & Jami, 2021), it still takes some time for people to form a

habit and get used to this behavior. Therefore, people inevitably have some negative emotions

in this adaptation progress. Exploring the psychological reasons behind this enables people to

better understand why different individual propensity results in different perceptions and

behaviors on wearing face masks. Second, people's perceptions and behaviors are largely

influenced not only by individual psychological mechanisms, but also by groups and others

around them (Matta et al., 2022; Palmer & Peterson, 2020). Since wearing face masks is natu-

rally associated with other members of society (e.g., people wear face masks to protect others

from viruses), it is necessary to study how sociological antecedents influence people's percep-

tions and behaviors toward face masks. Third, understanding psychological and sociological

antecedents provide legitimate evidence on how to reduce negative perceptions toward face

mask wearing intrinsically and thus help motivate people to wear face masks voluntarily rather

than by some external regulations such as mask mandates that force people to wear face masks.

Therefore, the current study explored the effect of two individual traits on wearing face masks:

regulatory focus (prevention vs. promotion) and cultural orientation (collectivism, masculinity,

power distance beliefs, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientation). Using regulatory fit

theory, we predicted that prevention-oriented individuals would have fewer concerns and there-

fore be more likely to wear face masks than promotion-oriented individuals, with one's cultural

orientation acting as a moderator. Given the paucity of research on health behaviors during

pandemics, we believe this research is particularly cogent and timely.

Though prior research has examined the role of an individual's regulatory focus on eating

healthy food (Latimer et al., 2008), participating in physical activity (Latimer et al., 2008),

dental flossing (Uskul et al., 2008), and quitting smoking (Adams et al., 2011), its role in the

public health issue of wearing masks has been largely overlooked. Further, studies in public

health marketing suggest that individual behavior may vary with cultural orientation

(Kemmelmeier & Jami, 2021; Lu et al., 2021). For instance, people with strong collectivistic

traits tend to be conscientious with a strong sense of duty toward others, resulting in more social

distancing and handwashing during a pandemic (Carvalho et al., 2020). Matta et al. (2022)

WEN ET AL.1325