Corowa-kun: A messenger app chatbot delivers COVID-19 vaccine information, Japan 2021

Kobayashi, Takaaki; Nishina, Yuka; Tomoi, Hana; Harada, Ko; Tanaka, Kyuto; Matsumoto, Eiyu; Horimukai, Kenta; Ishihara, Jun; Sasaki, Shugo; Inaba, Kanako; Seguchi, Kyosuke; Takahashi, Hiromizu; Salinas, Jorge; Yamada, Yuji

doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.06.007

Cited by 17 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Our previous cross-sectional study indicated that a free chatbot had the possibility to decrease vaccine hesitancy14; however, this randomised controlled trial demonstrated that the chatbot did not change VI nor vaccine confidence. We hypothesise that the chatbot might have been more effective early in the pandemic when accurate, specific and sought-after information was not readily and widely available to the public.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 74%

“…19 We created a chatbot in LINE to answer COVID-19 vaccine frequently asked questions (FAQs) via text messages ( online supplemental figure S1 ). 14 This chatbot has approximately 200 sets of questions and answers. Our chatbot works as follows: (1) users tap to select the item that they want to ask from a menu of options; the menu options are well organised with clearly labelled sections, such as ‘How do COVID-19 vaccines work?’, ‘What are the possible side effects of the vaccine?’ and ‘What is the eligibility for vaccination?’ ; (2) the chatbot automatically lists more specific questions relevant to the item that users choose in step 1; (3) users further choose a specific question that they want to ask from the list; and (4) the chatbot automatically provides detailed information and answers to a chosen question.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, we previously published a cross-sectional study investigating the association between COVID-19 VI and the use of a chatbot in a popular messenger app in Japan. 14 Though this study indicated the potential usefulness of a social media-based chatbot to reduce vaccine hesitancy, this study was subject to multiple limitations in terms of the study design since the study was cross-sectional only among chatbot users without a comparison group. Therefore, it had both internal (eg, recall bias, interview bias) and external validity issues, and the association between chatbot use and VI could not be clearly evaluated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…There have been conflicting data available about whether and how online or virtual webinars can be used to address COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Furthermore, we previously published a cross-sectional study investigating the association between COVID-19 VI and the use of a chatbot in a popular messenger app in Japan 14. Though this study indicated the potential usefulness of a social media-based chatbot to reduce vaccine hesitancy, this study was subject to multiple limitations in terms of the study design since the study was cross-sectional only among chatbot users without a comparison group.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effect of a mobile app chatbot and an interactive small-group webinar on COVID-19 vaccine intention and confidence in Japan: a randomised controlled trial

et al. 2023

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IntroductionWe investigated the effect of social media-based interventions on COVID-19 vaccine intention (VI) and confidence in Japan.MethodsWe conducted a three-arm randomised controlled trial between 5 November 2021 and 9 January 2022 during a low incidence (<1000/day) of COVID-19 in Japan in the midst of the second and the third waves. Japanese citizens aged ≥20 who had not received any COVID-19 vaccine and did not intend to be vaccinated were randomly assigned to one of the following three groups: (1) a control group, (2) a group using a mobile app chatbot providing information on COVID-19 vaccines and (3) a group using interactive webinars with health professionals. VI and predefined Vaccine Confidence Index (VCI) measuring confidence in the importance, safety and effectiveness were compared before and after the interventions under intention-to-treat principle. Logistic regression models were used to investigate the effect of each intervention on postintervention VI and changes of VCI compared with control.ResultsAmong 386 participants in each group, 359 (93.0%), 231 (59.8%) and 207 (53.6%) completed the postsurvey for the control, chatbot and webinar groups, respectively. The average duration between the intervention and the postsurvey was 32 days in chatbot group and 27 days in webinar group. VI increased from 0% to 18.5% (95% CI 14.5%, 22.5%) in control group, 15.4% (95% CI 10.8%, 20.1%) in chatbot group and 19.7% (95% CI 14.5%, 24.9%) in webinar group without significant difference (OR for improvement=0.8 (95% CI 0.5, 1.3), p=0.33 between chatbot and control, OR=1.1 (95% CI 0.7, 1.6), p=0.73 between webinar and control). VCI change tended to be larger in chatbot group compared with control group without significant difference (3.3% vs −2.5% in importance, OR for improvement=1.3 (95% CI 0.9, 2.0), p=0.18; 2.5% vs 1.9% in safety, OR=1.1 (95% CI 0.7, 1.9), p=0.62; −2.4% vs −7.6% in effectiveness, OR=1.4 (95% CI 0.9, 2.1), p=0.09). Improvement in VCI was larger in webinar group compared with control group for importance (7.8% vs −2.5%, OR=1.8 (95% CI 1.2, 2.8), p<0.01), effectiveness (6.4% vs −7.6%, OR=2.2 (95% CI 1.4, 3.4), p<0.01) and safety (6.0% vs 1.9%, OR=1.6 (95% CI 1.0, 2.6), p=0.08).ConclusionThis study demonstrated that neither the chatbot nor the webinar changed VI importantly compared with control. Interactive webinars could be an effective tool to change vaccine confidence. Further study is needed to identify risk factors associated with decreased vaccine confidence and investigate what intervention can increase VI and vaccine confidence for COVID-19 vaccines.Trial registration numberUMIN000045747.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 74%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effect of a mobile app chatbot and an interactive small-group webinar on COVID-19 vaccine intention and confidence in Japan: a randomised controlled trial

et al. 2023

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“…One way to reach people with targeted messages could be through using chatbots, which are computer programs that use natural language to communicate and interact with their users [ 57 ]. Several studies have found that chatbots significantly increased people’s intentions to vaccinate [ 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 ]. Providing access to different tailored messages would allow individuals to be more informed without feeling pressured, which could in turn facilitate the empowerment of personal choice amongst younger adults.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Examining an Altruism-Eliciting Video Intervention to Increase COVID-19 Vaccine Intentions in Younger Adults: A Qualitative Assessment Using the Realistic Evaluation Framework

et al. 2023

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COVID-19 vaccine-induced immunity wanes over time, and with the emergence of new variants, additional “booster” doses have been recommended in Canada. However, booster vaccination uptake has remained low, particularly amongst younger adults aged 18–39. A previous study by our research team found that an altruism-eliciting video increased COVID-19 vaccination intentions. Using qualitative methods, the present study aims to: (1) identify the factors that influence vaccine decision-making in Canadian younger adults; (2) understand younger adults’ perceptions of an altruism-eliciting video designed to increase COVID-19 vaccine intentions; and (3) explore how the video can be improved and adapted to the current pandemic context. We conducted three focus groups online with participants who: (1) received at least one booster vaccine, (2) received the primary series without any boosters, or (3) were unvaccinated. We used deductive and inductive approaches to analyze data. Deductively, informed by the realist evaluation framework, we synthesized data around three main themes: context, mechanism, and intervention-specific suggestions. Within each main theme, we deductively created subthemes based on the health belief model (HBM). For quotes that could not be captured by these subthemes, additional themes were created inductively. We found multiple factors that could be important considerations in future messaging to increase vaccine acceptance, such as feeling empowered, fostering confidence in government and institutions, providing diverse (such as both altruism and individualism) messaging, and including concrete data (such as the prevalence of vulnerable individuals). These findings suggest targeted messaging tailored to these themes would be helpful to increase COVID-19 booster vaccination amongst younger adults.

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Interventions to increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake: a scoping review

Andreas

Iannizzi

Bohndorf

et al. 2022

Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews

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Corowa-kun: A messenger app chatbot delivers COVID-19 vaccine information, Japan 2021

Cited by 17 publications

References 32 publications

Effect of a mobile app chatbot and an interactive small-group webinar on COVID-19 vaccine intention and confidence in Japan: a randomised controlled trial

Effect of a mobile app chatbot and an interactive small-group webinar on COVID-19 vaccine intention and confidence in Japan: a randomised controlled trial

Examining an Altruism-Eliciting Video Intervention to Increase COVID-19 Vaccine Intentions in Younger Adults: A Qualitative Assessment Using the Realistic Evaluation Framework

Interventions to increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake: a scoping review

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