Effective communication during the COVID-19 pandemic can save lives. At the present time, social and physical distancing measures are the lead strategy in combatting the spread of COVID-19. In this pilot, survey-based study, we obtained responses from 705 adults in Switzerland about their support and practice of social distancing measures to examine if these responses are: (1) influenced by whether these measures are supported by an internationally recognized celebrity or a government official, (2) dependent on whether the spokesperson is liked, and (3) age-dependent. We also considered several attitudinal and demographic variables that may influence the degree to which people support and comply with social distancing measures. We found that the government official was more effective, particularly in response to current compliance with social distancing measures, and was substantially stronger among older respondents despite having lower risk perception. Being liked seems to boost this effect. In addition, respondents’ greater support and compliance was positively associated with (1) higher concern for the current situation, (2) higher concern for the well-being of others, (3) greater belief that others are practicing social distancing, (4) feeling greater constraint in freedom of movement, and negatively with (5) city size, and (6) household size. Since different parts of the population appear to have different perceptions of risk and crisis, our preliminary results suggest that different spokespersons may be needed for the younger and the older populations, and for rural and urban populations. The development of evidence-based knowledge is required to further identify who would be the most effective spokesperson, and in particular to groups with low risk perception and low compliance.