FOLLOW-UP RESEARCH RECOMMENDATIONS

At the end of the discussion, panelists were asked to make recommendations to NHTSA regarding future research. They offered three main suggestions, each of which is discussed in more detail below (several of the panelists also offered that they would be interested in participating in any follow-up research should an additional expert panel be convened). All of these suggestions were consistent with the panelists’ overall emphasis on audience research. It is worth noting that the experts did not recommend social marketing research such as focus groups, because such research relies on individual self-observation. Self-observation is not typically informative as it relates to unconscious defense mechanisms. Such defenses, by their nature, are not consciously known. Instead, the experts called for research with measurements captured closer in time to the moment when behavioral decisions occur (thus reducing one form of response error), as well as for analysis of existing data to better quantify the number of people who may be utilizing defense mechanisms related to non-use (e.g., via a detailed analysis of survey respondents who agree that “putting on a seatbelt makes me more likely to worry about being in an accident”).

The most frequent suggestion was that NHTSA study the factors that motivate people to wear or not wear belts; i.e., what is the basis of this behavior? Panelists suggested that this research could use logs, journals, think-alouds, or some other technique to capture people’s thought process at the point of wearing or not wearing a safety belt. However, they emphasized that this research must be done at the point of decision: “Asking people about the reasons they have for making decisions is something that has a very fast decay time;” “People forget what went through their minds in 3 to 10 seconds, depending on how preoccupied they are with other things.” The objective of this research is to identify patterns and/or frames of mind where people wear or don’t wear their belts, and use this information to determine which approaches are most likely to be successful.

A related suggestion was to look at part-time users in more detail. Existing NHTSA survey data could be used to build profiles of part-time users; e.g., to classify and typify the reasons people offer for part-time use. While these data are not perfect (e.g., people may not accurately report why they do or do not wear belts), such a classification could help guide selection of intervention approaches from among the suggestions offered in this report. For example, existing data may be able to identify whether repression, denial, rationalization, or fatalism is more common as a reason for part-time use of belts. Subsequent interventions could be tailored to reach the largest possible audience of part-time users. In the same vein, panelists suggested that NHTSA identify and study people who switched from part-time to full-time belt use, and look for the motivating factors that led to this “turning point.” As one panelist asked, “What was the critical load? What was the critical event or whatever that got them?” This research may also identify windows of opportunity where people are more receptive to messages about safety belt use.

Finally, panelists said NHTSA should spend more time describing what it is about safety belt use that makes it a unique behavior: “What about seatbelt use is … fairly unique to this particular behavior? And what about it is more generic and general of other things? … I think that question will get you a long way towards thinking about it productively.” One way to do this is to research the places where belts tend to be either worn (e.g., on highways) or not worn (e.g., in driveways), and then to look at the characteristics of these places. Additionally, panelists suggested that research on transition zones (places where people either buckle or unbuckle their belts) could shed light on this behavior. Such research could be conducted as a subcategory to research on why people do or do not wear their belts.