Persuasive Messages Will Not Increase COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance: Evidence from a Nationwide Online Experiment

Abstract

Although mass vaccination is the best way out of the pandemic, the share of skeptics is substantial in most countries. Social campaigns can emphasize the many arguments that potentially increase acceptance for vaccines: e.g., that they have been developed, tested, and recommended by doctors and scientists; and that they are safe, effective, and in demand. We verified the effectiveness of such messages in an online experiment conducted in February and March 2021 with a sample of almost six thousand adult Poles, which was nationally representative in terms of key demographic variables. We presented respondents with different sets of information about vaccinating against COVID-19. After reading the information bundle, they indicated whether they would be willing to be vaccinated. We also asked them to justify their answers and indicate who or what might change their opinion. Finally, we elicited a number of individual characteristics and opinions. We found that nearly 45% of the respondents were unwilling to be vaccinated, and none of the popular messages we used was effective in reducing this hesitancy. We also observed a number of significant correlates of vaccination attitudes, with men, older, wealthier, and non-religious individuals, those with higher education, and those trusting science rather than COVID-19 conspiracy theories being more willing to be vaccinated. We discuss important consequences for campaigns aimed at reducing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.

Acculturation, trust to health care system, and attitudes to COVID-19 vaccination: A comparative study between Polish immigrants in Norway, Polish in Poland, and Norwegians in Norway

“…This might indicate that the Polish immigrants’ attitudes to COVID-19 vaccination reflect the attitudes of the Polish people in general and, thus, might not originate from the minority status and discrimination. Kachurka et al (2021) found that nearly 45% of the Polish respondents were unwilling to be vaccinated, and none of the popular messages we used was effective in reducing this hesitancy ( Kachurka, Krawczyk, & Rachubik, 2021 ). Some studies have demonstrated that anti-vaccine attitudes are related to anti-establishment attitudes and reflect the political polarization in Poland ( Oleksy, et al, 2022 ).…”

COVID-19 Vaccine–Related Attitudes and Beliefs in Canada: National Cross-sectional Survey and Cluster Analysis

“…We used multiple models to examine the association between vaccine hesitancy and each of the following: (1) sociodemographic characteristics, (2) attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccine, (3) adherence toward NPIs, (4) attitudes toward COVID-19, and (5) trusted sources of COVID-19 information. We also calculated adjusted prevalence ratios (aPRs) by using sociodemographic characteristics identified through a literature search [10,[14][15][16] as being associated with vaccine hesitancy, including sex at birth, age, ethnicity, province of residence, education, household income, and political leaning.…”

Vaccinating to protect others: The role of self-persuasion and empathy among young adults

“…Some studies have demonstrated that direct persuasion could increase COVID-19 vaccination intention (Ashworth et al, 2021). However, other studies have shown that attempts to encourage COVID-19 vaccination through direct persuasive messages are ineffective (e.g., Kachurka et al, 2021). Direct persuasion may also lead to a boomerang effect as it tends to trigger the message recipients' psychological reactance (Grandpre et al, 2003).…”