Effects of Social Cues on Biosecurity Compliance in Livestock Facilities: Evidence From Experimental Simulations
Disease outbreaks in U.S. animal livestock industries have economic impacts measured in hundreds of millions of dollars per year. Biosecurity, or procedures intended to protect animals against disease, is known to be effective at reducing infection risk at facilities. Yet, to the detriment of animal...
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doaj-094cc9f1881d47e997f61e4a997616232020-11-25T01:28:23ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Veterinary Science2297-17692020-03-01710.3389/fvets.2020.00130508007Effects of Social Cues on Biosecurity Compliance in Livestock Facilities: Evidence From Experimental SimulationsLuke Trinity0Luke Trinity1Scott C. Merrill2Scott C. Merrill3Scott C. Merrill4Eric M. Clark5Eric M. Clark6Christopher J. Koliba7Christopher J. Koliba8Christopher J. Koliba9Asim Zia10Asim Zia11Asim Zia12Gabriela Bucini13Gabriela Bucini14Julia M. Smith15Social Ecological Gaming & Simulation (SEGS) Lab, The University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, United StatesComplex Systems Center, The University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, United StatesSocial Ecological Gaming & Simulation (SEGS) Lab, The University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, United StatesDepartment of Plant and Soil Science, The University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, United StatesGund Fellow, Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, United StatesSocial Ecological Gaming & Simulation (SEGS) Lab, The University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, United StatesComplex Systems Center, The University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, United StatesSocial Ecological Gaming & Simulation (SEGS) Lab, The University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, United StatesGund Fellow, Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, United StatesDepartment of Community Development and Applied Economics, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, United StatesSocial Ecological Gaming & Simulation (SEGS) Lab, The University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, United StatesGund Fellow, Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, United StatesDepartment of Community Development and Applied Economics, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, United StatesSocial Ecological Gaming & Simulation (SEGS) Lab, The University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, United StatesDepartment of Plant and Soil Science, The University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, United StatesDepartment of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, United StatesDisease outbreaks in U.S. animal livestock industries have economic impacts measured in hundreds of millions of dollars per year. Biosecurity, or procedures intended to protect animals against disease, is known to be effective at reducing infection risk at facilities. Yet, to the detriment of animal health, humans do not always follow biosecurity protocols. Human behavioral factors have been shown to influence willingness to follow biosecurity protocols. Here we show how social cues may affect cooperation with a biosecurity practice. Participants were immersed in a simulated swine production facility through a graphical user interface and prompted to make a decision that addressed their willingness to comply with a biosecurity practice. We tested the effect of varying three experimental variables: (1) the risk of acquiring an infection, (2) the delivery method of the infection risk information (numerical vs. graphical), and (3) the behavior of an automated coworker in the facility. We provide evidence that participants changed their behavior when they observed a simulated worker making a choice to follow or not follow a biosecurity protocol, even though the simulated worker had no economic effect on the participants' payouts. These results advance the understanding of human behavioral effects on biosecurity protocol decisions, demonstrating that social cues need to be considered by livestock facility managers when developing policies to make agricultural systems more disease resilient.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fvets.2020.00130/fullbiosecurityriskcompliancesocial cuepsychological distance |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Luke Trinity Luke Trinity Scott C. Merrill Scott C. Merrill Scott C. Merrill Eric M. Clark Eric M. Clark Christopher J. Koliba Christopher J. Koliba Christopher J. Koliba Asim Zia Asim Zia Asim Zia Gabriela Bucini Gabriela Bucini Julia M. Smith |
spellingShingle |
Luke Trinity Luke Trinity Scott C. Merrill Scott C. Merrill Scott C. Merrill Eric M. Clark Eric M. Clark Christopher J. Koliba Christopher J. Koliba Christopher J. Koliba Asim Zia Asim Zia Asim Zia Gabriela Bucini Gabriela Bucini Julia M. Smith Effects of Social Cues on Biosecurity Compliance in Livestock Facilities: Evidence From Experimental Simulations Frontiers in Veterinary Science biosecurity risk compliance social cue psychological distance |
author_facet |
Luke Trinity Luke Trinity Scott C. Merrill Scott C. Merrill Scott C. Merrill Eric M. Clark Eric M. Clark Christopher J. Koliba Christopher J. Koliba Christopher J. Koliba Asim Zia Asim Zia Asim Zia Gabriela Bucini Gabriela Bucini Julia M. Smith |
author_sort |
Luke Trinity |
title |
Effects of Social Cues on Biosecurity Compliance in Livestock Facilities: Evidence From Experimental Simulations |
title_short |
Effects of Social Cues on Biosecurity Compliance in Livestock Facilities: Evidence From Experimental Simulations |
title_full |
Effects of Social Cues on Biosecurity Compliance in Livestock Facilities: Evidence From Experimental Simulations |
title_fullStr |
Effects of Social Cues on Biosecurity Compliance in Livestock Facilities: Evidence From Experimental Simulations |
title_full_unstemmed |
Effects of Social Cues on Biosecurity Compliance in Livestock Facilities: Evidence From Experimental Simulations |
title_sort |
effects of social cues on biosecurity compliance in livestock facilities: evidence from experimental simulations |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Veterinary Science |
issn |
2297-1769 |
publishDate |
2020-03-01 |
description |
Disease outbreaks in U.S. animal livestock industries have economic impacts measured in hundreds of millions of dollars per year. Biosecurity, or procedures intended to protect animals against disease, is known to be effective at reducing infection risk at facilities. Yet, to the detriment of animal health, humans do not always follow biosecurity protocols. Human behavioral factors have been shown to influence willingness to follow biosecurity protocols. Here we show how social cues may affect cooperation with a biosecurity practice. Participants were immersed in a simulated swine production facility through a graphical user interface and prompted to make a decision that addressed their willingness to comply with a biosecurity practice. We tested the effect of varying three experimental variables: (1) the risk of acquiring an infection, (2) the delivery method of the infection risk information (numerical vs. graphical), and (3) the behavior of an automated coworker in the facility. We provide evidence that participants changed their behavior when they observed a simulated worker making a choice to follow or not follow a biosecurity protocol, even though the simulated worker had no economic effect on the participants' payouts. These results advance the understanding of human behavioral effects on biosecurity protocol decisions, demonstrating that social cues need to be considered by livestock facility managers when developing policies to make agricultural systems more disease resilient. |
topic |
biosecurity risk compliance social cue psychological distance |
url |
https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fvets.2020.00130/full |
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