“SINGAPORE BE STEADY”: ROLE OF COMMUNICATION MEDIUMS IN SINGAPORE’S COVID-19 RESPONSE

Abstract

The impacts of COVID-19 have been felt immensely throughout the world. To manage its externalities, policymakers have implemented numerous regulations and policies. In Singapore, to ensure effective implementation, the government has attempted to acquaint its citizens with new policies through mass communication platforms. However, because mass media consumption habits are unique to individuals, such strategies may have an impact on policy message exposure, thus impacting policy familiarity and policy compliance. In an effort to advance the knowledge of policy implementation, this thesis sought to understand the role of media platform usage in affecting 1) policy familiarity and policy compliance. A quantitative study (n=243) was conducted among the adult population in Singapore to understand the relationship between media platform usage, policy familiarity and policy compliance. This study built on the Shannon-Weaver model of communication in explaining policy familiarity and the Health Belief Model in examining policy compliance. Results demonstrated that specific media usage patterns impact levels of policy familiarity. The research found that policy familiarity is predicted by the quantity of Social Media and Online News platforms used. Policy familiarity is also positively associated with the frequency of Online News Media usage. However, survey results have found that the relationship between levels of policy familiarity and policy compliance were not significant. This suggests that while media platform usage affects policy familiarity, understanding of the information is not sufficient to predict levels of policy compliance. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.