COVID-19 messaging in England and the KSA during the first wave: a comparison and analysis from a health promotion and social marketing perspective.

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 emerged from China and rapidly spread across the globe. One priority in terms of prevention involves increasing prevalent knowledge through messages containing information about combating transmission and preventative behaviours.This study seeks to understand in depth differences and similarities during the first wave in the KSA and England from health promotion and social marketing perspectives. The methodology of this study is qualitative content analysis. The result: the KSA and England implemented four campaigns: pre-lockdown campaign, lockdown campaign, post lockdown campaign, and summer campaign. Similarities and differences can be seen in the two countries’ response to the pandemic: similarities can be seen in the lockdown campaign and post lockdown, while differences were observable in the pre-lockdown and summer campaigns.