**5. Discussion, Limitations, and Future Research Directions**

#### *5.1. Discussion*

In the present research, pandemic knowledge played a positive role in escalating the individuals' WAPP. It means that if individuals are aware of the fatal and lethal aspects of a pandemic, they are willing to protect themselves from it. In contrast, a survey-based study of 740 patients in Jordan investigated and revealed that most participants had knowledge and awareness about Chronic Kidney Disease, but half of them had the wrong information and could not detect its symptoms at the initial level. Thus, their knowledge affected the adoption of prevention practices negatively [110]. However, analogous to our results, a study on 265 Black faith leaders in the U.S. found that increased awareness regarding HIV through print and social media, church websites, and making policies of HIV prevention could help reduce the disease [111]. It was further argued that the treatment approach and treatment knowledge were essential role player in preventing the spread of HIV around the world [112]. Along these lines, the dissemination and acquisition of correct and wellinformed pandemic knowledge could play an integral driving influence during pandemic outbreaks.

The Ebola virus spread through African countries in 2014, giving rise to increased fatality rates. The main reason behind the pandemic's spread was the increased population mobility worldwide (domestic and international), lack of awareness, and weak health systems. The lesson learned from the last pandemic was that a country should make its health system better. Vaccination-based treatment, safety policies, advertisement on pandemic prevention, and pandemic prevention impacts were emphasized [113]. The mythical attitude towards the pandemic proved to be a bottleneck in enhancing the individuals' WAPP. This finding was consistent with that of Khalil and Abdalrahim [110], who revealed a negative influence of attitudinal construct on disease prevention practices. Similar to the findings of the present work, Liao and Wang [114] evaluated and uncovered a supportive influence of epidemic information on China's prevention adoption. In the same vein, Ritter et al. [93] explored the ways through which farmers adopted the policies based on management practices for the prevention and control of diseases. Social relationships, social media, and farm consultants' recommendations also motivate the farmers to adopt such practices for prevention and control.

Our results revealed that peer groups' beliefs and self-efficacy positively drove the individuals' WAPP. Similarly, a different study conducted in four regions, including Toronto, Guangdong, Singapore, and Hong Kong, evaluated the beliefs of peer groups and selfefficacy on preventive behaviors to prevent and control the SARS pandemic in these regions. However, the results demonstrated that self-efficacy was not a substantial predictor for all respondents in Guangdong [115]. Additionally, successions of the cholera pandemic outbreak in Hanoi interjected a flash of financial and economic triumphalism in the past changeover. In search of the basis of a rebellious syndrome linked with scarceness and less growth and expansion, media, official groups, and residents not only found victims but also offered a way out. They also permitted specific revelations of moral conduct, the public's health, and societal order. In this regard, the beliefs of peer groups and self-efficacy strengthened the pandemic prevention adoption during the outbreaks [116].

This work has demonstrated the driving influence of perceived risk and risk-averse behavior in promoting individuals' WAPP. Along these lines, Botzen et al. [117] discovered the impact of influence factors to prevent flood damage in New York. For this purpose, the protection motivation theory was taken as a theoretical base. Their results unveiled that factors such as attitude towards risk and time preferences played a major role in individuals' decision-making regarding preventing and controlling floods in high-risk areas. It has been documented that health policy was necessary for the prevention and control of pandemics. Risk-averse behavior was considered a useful means to avoid pandemics. Further, Omodior et al. [118] investigated the impact of perceived severity and perceived susceptibility on the adoption of personnel protective behaviors (PPB) in the case of five mosquito-borne pandemics. They did it by considering a sample of 1043 respondents from the U.S. The

diseases included West Nile virus, Dengue fever, Zika virus, Chikungunya, and Malaria. The outcomes disclosed that perceived severity was found among all mosquito-borne pandemics. Also, the people were more concerned about the adoption of PPB in the cases of Zika virus, Chikungunya, and Dengue fever than in the cases of West Nile virus and Malaria. Finally, Cui et al. [119] conducted a survey to bridge a gap between the linkage between risk perception about avian-influenza and adoptive biosecurity measures (ABM) by taking a sample of 426 poultry farmers in China. The results discovered that increased perceived risk induced more ABM adoption. This finding is aligned with our results since perceived risk proved to be the driving force of individuals' WAPP.

We found that ease of pandemic prevention adoption promoted the individuals' WAPP. Consistent with our results, Kusuma et al. [50] revealed that the unavailability of protective gears (mainly hand sanitizers and face masks) adversely impacted the COVID-19 prevention adoption in four South Asian countries (India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan). It means that the easier the adoption of pandemic prevention, the more that individuals will be willing to adopt it. Furthermore, Yang et al. [120] conducted an impact analysis between the feasibility of adopting good agricultural practices by the small farmers and enhancing raw milk hygiene by taking data from 34 farms. The results indicated that almost 47.73% of farmers were adopting hygienic policies for raw milk in the face of their feasible adoption.

We also revealed that a lack of trust in political inhibited the individuals' WAPP. In support of this finding, past research found that E-guidelines and price premium by the government were some factors that positively influenced the adoption of hygienic practices by building the trust of farmers in political institutions [120]. Similarly, Cui et al. [121] studied the critical factors influencing Chinese poultry farms in response to the avian influenza virus by taking semi-structured interviews from twenty-five poultry farmers between November 2016 and May 2017 using grounded theory. The results showed that the government must inform farmers regarding prevention and control at an early stage of the avian influenza virus through the proper communication networks. In contrast to our results, Paolini et al. [122] studied and discovered a positive contribution of political trust to COVID-19 distress in the Italian context. Similarly, Sarkar et al. [123] conducted a situation analysis in eight South Asian countries and confirmed that governance maximization was the optimal tool for preventing and controlling the COVID-19 epidemic.
