Community behavioral change and management of COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Indonesia

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to investigate the effect of information and motivation on behavioral change related to the COVID-19 pandemic management in Indonesia. It also examines the role of behavioral skills in mediating the information-behavioral change relationship and the motivation-behavioral change relationship. METHOD: This study employs the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to test the research hypotheses. Using the online survey method to collect data, 845 responses were obtained from several main islands of Indonesia. RESULTS: The results of the study show that information and motivation positively influence people’s behavior changes. Behavioral skills mediate the influence of information and motivation on behavioral change. This study contributes to the development of the information-motivation-behavior model (IMB-Model). It also provides additional knowledge on pandemic management in the research setting of Indonesia as a country that has complex characteristics in terms of religion and belief, demography, culture, economy, and politics. CONCLUSIONS: This study concludes that the success of Indonesia in dealing with the pandemic greatly depends on the success of changing the community behavior. Providing reliable and consistent information enhances people’s motivation to build their behavioral skills. With increased behavioral skills, people have changed their behavior in fighting against COVID-19 by obeying health protocols, participating in vaccination programs, and practicing a healthier lifestyle.