How Do Citizens Respond to Government Measures in Times of Crisis? Narrative Meaning‐Making of Agency, Responsibility, and Compliance During the COVID‐19 Pandemic in Ecuador

ABSTRACT Citizens’ responses to policies depend on narrative meaning‐making. Through the lens of the COVID‐19 pandemic in Ecuador, this study addresses calls for increased insights into how processes of responding to government measures function during societal crises and ruptures. I propose multilevel narrative engagement as a conceptual tool for understanding how citizens navigate narratives from global, national, community, and interpersonal levels when responding to crisis policies. Through an empirical investigation, I find that Ecuadorian interview participants used a protection narrative , an informed choice narrative , and an injustice narrative when making meaning of the government's COVID‐19 measures, depending on their multilevel narrative engagement. Through these narratives, the agency and responsibility of citizens and authorities to manage the crisis were interpreted differently, leading to distinct perceptions of non‐compliance and the legitimacy of the measures. Insights from the study can inform future crisis management that depends on how citizens react to crisis mitigation measures.