While many retailing businesses have responded to the Covid-19 crisis by instituting various new rules, there is scant research examining how to effectively communicate such preventive measures to customers. This study investigates the joint effect of policy type (mandatory versus voluntary) and message framing (appreciation versus apology) on customers’ compliance and revisit intention. An online experiment was conducted with 201 US participants. Results suggest that when the message is framed with appreciation, a mandatory (vs. voluntary) mask-wearing policy causes less reactance, leading to higher compliance and revisit intention. However, such differences are attenuated with apologetic messaging. Practical implications for retailer-customer communications on crisis policies are discussed.

尽管许多零售企业通过制定各种新规则来应对 Covid-19 危机，但很少有研究研究如何有效地向客户传达此类预防措施。本研究调查了政策类型（强制性与自愿性）和信息框架（感谢与道歉）对客户合规性和重访意愿的联合影响。对 201 名美国参与者进行了在线实验。结果表明，当信息以赞赏为框架时，强制（与自愿）戴口罩政策会导致较少的反应，从而导致更高的依从性和重访意愿。然而，这种差异会随着道歉信息而减弱。讨论了零售商与客户就危机政策进行沟通的实际影响。