App-based Epidemic Game to Model Belief-Behavior Mapping and Cost Incentives in Voluntary Quarantine: A Randomized Controlled Trial

App-based epidemic game demonstrated real-life health beliefs transfer into in-game measures but showed limited impact of cost incentives on quarantine behavior in a university setting.

• Why it matters: Understanding how beliefs influence protective actions during outbreaks is vital for designing effective public health interventions, yet empirical validation of behavioral models remains limited.
• What they did: A 15-day randomized controlled trial with 539 participants used a smartphone app to simulate pathogen transmission, measure beliefs, and test quarantine incentives through different cost barriers, collecting longitudinal contact and choice data.
• The result: Beliefs measured in real life correlated positively with in-game beliefs, but quarantine rates were unaffected by cost barriers, highlighting the need for further research into behavioral drivers and the potential of epigames for network-based epidemiology.