The Joint Effects of Social Norm Appeals and Fear Appeals in COVID-19 Vaccine Campaign Posters on Self-Perceived Communication Quality and Vaccination Intention

Abstract

To understand how different types of cues in vaccine education messages affect attitude toward campaign messages and vaccination intention, this study examined the impact of the presence of social norm appeals (individual vs. group cues) and the presence of fear appeals in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine campaign posters on perceived communication quality and vaccination intention. A 2 (social norm appeal: individual cue vs. group cue) × 2 (fear appeal: absence vs. presence) × 3 (repetition) within-subject factorial design experiment was conducted in China. Findings demonstrated that the presence of fear appeals in COVID-19 vaccine campaign posters elicited lower levels of perceived communication quality and vaccination intention than those without fear appeals. The interactive effect of fear appeals and social norm appeals was also found to be significant. Specifically, positive-framed messages (i.e., absence of fear appeals) with group cues and fear appeal messages with individual cues elicited higher perceived information quality and stronger vaccination intention than other types of messages. Understanding how these cues function jointly in COVID-19 vaccine campaign messages will help public health practitioners create more effective intervention strategies.

Message Effectiveness of Fear Appeals in Vaccination Communication Campaigns: A Systematic Review

“…Hing et al [ 22 ] reported a backfire effect of a negative attribute framing to influence COVID-19 vaccination intentions among Malaysian adults. Similarly, Liu et al [ 29 ] showed that the presence of fear appeals in COVID-19 vaccine campaign posters elicited lower levels of vaccination intentions among Chinese adults than those without fear appeals. Also, the loss frame was less effective in motivating people to vaccinate against COVID-19 than the gain frame among Chinese college students [ 46 ].…”

Improving COVID-19 vaccine uptake: a message co-design process for a national mHealth intervention in Colombia

“…Based on these results, the scholars recommend using communication to address COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy [ 10 ]. While information-based messages are necessary [ 20 , 21 ], using narrative messages that convey positive experiences and emotions can help create closer links between people and health [ 62 ], rather than using messages appealing to fear which the evidence shows do not always encourage people to get vaccinated [ 63 ]. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic generated high emotional and mental health distress [ 64 ] which made using vaccination messages appealing to negative emotions (e.g.…”

Understanding the Design of Fear Appeals by Applying the Extended Parallel Process Model: A Qualitative Analysis of COVID-19 Public Service Announcements

“…8 This finding is in line with the finding from an experiment in which participants received messages with fear appeals and a higher level of willingness to get the COVID-19 vaccine resulted. 9 One of the most prominent theoretical frameworks related to fear appeals is the extended parallel process model (EPPM). 10…”

“…8 This finding is in line with the finding from an experiment in which participants received messages with fear appeals and a higher level of willingness to get the COVID-19 vaccine resulted. 9 One of the most prominent theoretical frameworks related to fear appeals is the extended parallel process model (EPPM). 10 EPPM explains possible responses to fear-based messages 11 and posits that individuals will appraise various messages, which leads to two distinct processes-the fear control process and the danger control process.…”