  Disease outbreaks in U.S. animal livestock industries have economic impacts
measured in hundreds of millions of dollars per year. Biosecurity, or
procedures intended to protect animals against disease, is known to be
effective at reducing infection risk at facilities. Yet to the detriment of
animal health, humans do not always follow biosecurity protocols. Human
behavioral factors have been shown to influence willingness to follow
biosecurity protocols. Here we show how social cues may affect cooperation with
a biosecurity practice. Participants were immersed in a simulated swine
production facility through a graphical user interface and prompted to make a
decision that addressed their willingness to comply with a biosecurity
practice. We tested the effect of varying three experimental variables: (1) the
risk of acquiring an infection, (2) the delivery method of the infection risk
information (numerical versus graphical), and (3) behavior of an automated
coworker in the facility. We provide evidence that participants changed their
behavior when they observed a simulated worker making a choice to follow or not
follow a biosecurity protocol, even though the simulated worker had no economic
effect on the participants' payouts. These results advance the understanding of
human behavioral effects on biosecurity protocol decisions; demonstrating that
social cues need to be considered by livestock facility managers when
developing policies to make agricultural systems more disease resilient.
