The recent SARS and influenza pandemics have shown that we need effective measures to fight major epidemic outbreaks. However, the authorities often fail to communicate the need for large-scale measures in a trustworthy manner. As a result, the acceptance of such measures among the general population and high-risk groups is low.

For effective behavioural and communication strategies, we need to integrate social, behavioural, communication and media sciences. Therefore, the E-com@eu consortium brings together and harnesses the latest thinking from fields such as biomedical sciences, strategic communications, social marketing and behavioural economics.