The Loop Trail “Quest”: Use of a Choice-based Digital Simulation, An Interactive Video, and a Booklet to Communicate and Analyze Decision-making of Park Visitors

Depreciative park visitor behaviors in protected areas can alter the relationship between humans, wildlife, and ecosystems and provide new opportunities for pathogens to cause illness in people. We created communication interventions that illustrate to park visitors the impact of off-trail walking, dogs off-leash, and littering. We aimed to uncover reasons behind park visitor decision-making and to compare differences in responses between messaging treatments. Our study in Great Falls Park (Potomac, MD) exposed 1207 park visitors to one of three messaging treatments: a choice-based digital simulation, a video, or a booklet. Participants either experienced or observed the role of park visitor behaviors in disease transmission to humans. All participants answered Likert-type questions that gauged their perceptions of the link between humans, animals, and disease. Participants in simulation and video treatments also ranked reasons for non-compliant behaviors. We compared changes in Likert scores by Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn's tests, and compared rank data with Chi square analysis. Key findings suggest that participants selected reasons for non-compliant behaviors that aligned with their “self-interests.” This study applies a social marketing lens to a One Health problem and demonstrates the need for educational interventions that employ game-based learning to convey associations between human and wildlife health.