Published on: May 20, 2020 10:40 AM

How to Persuade People Who Refuse to Take Safety Measures against COVID-19

Infographic: How to Talk to Corona Risk Deniers Among Family and Friends

We have removed our old company blog, now obsolete. In this first post of the new blog, we have decided to address a real-life issue that quite a few families and individuals are facing around the planet. How do we deal with men and women — loved ones, not strangers! — who are careless about or even oblivious of the dangers of coronavirus and refuse to take COVID-19 precautions? A significant minority of people pooh-pooh the basic safety requirements, including the need for social distancing, wearing protective masks, and adopting a more rigorous hygiene (wearing gloves, using sanitizer, frequently washing hands). Most people understand the importance of these things, but unfortunately, not all — chiefly for psychological reasons. Human psychology is complex and not to be taken lightly. Naturally, we care for these people’s well-being, and we care for our own well-being and that of others as well. So how do we persuade these recalcitrant types not to be foolhardy and not to expose themselves and others to unnecessary peril?

Search Benefit conducted a social media survey of opinions about this matter, seeking recommendations on how best to deal with such resistant folk in one’s own family or among friends, especially when avoiding contact with them is not an option. We received many responses to our survey and have distilled what we thought was the best advice, packing it into the little “infographic sonnet” above. There is no science to it, it’s just common sense and opinion. But perhaps our little infographic will come in handy to someone.

Remember: no method of persuasion is universal. Depending on your specific situation, the advice offered here is not guaranteed to make a positive difference. None the less, it seems worth trying. Please feel free to spread this around. Thank you for reading.

And by the way, welcome to Search Benefit’s new blog! Our old marketing blog was badly out-of-date, so we have decided to replace it completely: there is no point preserving many pages filled with antiquated SEO information that can potentially mislead the 2020 reader. Our industry changes so fast!

Somehow, at this dangerous and unsettling time of the coronavirus pandemic, we did not feel like starting our reinvented blog by talking about marketing. Things are not “business as usual” for the people right now. So much else is weighing on all our minds and hearts, that the usual optimistic marketing discourse (especially with its constant fixation on “going viral”) somehow rings hollow in the face of massive human tragedy. The pandemic has reminded us what “viral” really means, and it is not pretty.

By the way, dear fellow marketers, colleagues and competitors, how about we go “trending” instead “viral” from now on? It is a pleasanter thought! Life consists of trends, while virality is a questionable, creepy ideal.

Please be well, observe the necessary coronavirus precautions, and stay safe and healthy! Peace and out until the next post.

Search Benefit