ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the importance of parks as critical infrastructure for societal well-being;however, for much of the pandemic, the risk for disease exposure and transmission in these spaces was unclear. Public health messaging by parks continues to attempt to influence health-promoting behaviors, but the impact of advisories may vary due to the message source. In fall 2020, we surveyed park visitors in Virginia, U.S. across political affiliations to understand decision-making factors influencing visitation. Results indicate many similarities in decision-making factors across political affiliations, such as the perceived importance of health benefits derived from outdoor recreation. Significant differences in the perceived importance between message sources (i.e., Trump Administration) (p 2 = .104) and risk perceptions related to COVID-19 (p 2 = .228) across political affiliations were evident. These findings demonstrate the importance of attending to political affiliations when crafting messaging strategies, not limited to the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Park & Recreation Administration is the property of Sagamore Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)