Minimal effects from injunctive norm and contentiousness treatments on COVID-19 vaccine intentions: evidence from 3 countries
Minimal effects from injunctive norm and contentiousness treatments on COVID-19 vaccine intentions: evidence from 3 countries
Does information about how other people feel about COVID-19 vaccination affect immunization intentions? We conducted preregistered survey experiments in Great Britain (5,456 respondents across 3 survey waves from September 2020 to February 2021), Canada (1,315 respondents in February 2021), and the state of New Hampshire in the United States (1,315 respondents in January 2021). The experiments examine the effects of providing accurate public opinion information to people about either public support for COVID-19 vaccination (an injunctive norm) or public beliefs that the issue is contentious. Across all 3 countries, exposure to this information had minimal effects on vaccination intentions even among people who previously held inaccurate beliefs about support for COVID-19 vaccination or its perceived contentiousness. These results suggest that providing information on public opinion about COVID vaccination has limited additional effect on people's behavioral intentions when public discussion of vaccine uptake and intentions is highly salient.
Carey, John M.
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Keirns, Tracy
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Loewen, Peter John
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Merkley, Eric
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Nyhan, Brendan
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Phillips, Joseph B.
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Rees, Judy R.
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Reifler, Jason
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13 May 2022
Carey, John M.
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Keirns, Tracy
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Loewen, Peter John
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Merkley, Eric
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Nyhan, Brendan
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Phillips, Joseph B.
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Rees, Judy R.
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Reifler, Jason
426301a1-f90b-470d-a076-04a9d716c491
Carey, John M., Keirns, Tracy, Loewen, Peter John, Merkley, Eric, Nyhan, Brendan, Phillips, Joseph B., Rees, Judy R. and Reifler, Jason
(2022)
Minimal effects from injunctive norm and contentiousness treatments on COVID-19 vaccine intentions: evidence from 3 countries.
PNAS Nexus, 1 (2), [pgac031].
(doi:10.1093/pnasnexus/pgac031).
Abstract
Does information about how other people feel about COVID-19 vaccination affect immunization intentions? We conducted preregistered survey experiments in Great Britain (5,456 respondents across 3 survey waves from September 2020 to February 2021), Canada (1,315 respondents in February 2021), and the state of New Hampshire in the United States (1,315 respondents in January 2021). The experiments examine the effects of providing accurate public opinion information to people about either public support for COVID-19 vaccination (an injunctive norm) or public beliefs that the issue is contentious. Across all 3 countries, exposure to this information had minimal effects on vaccination intentions even among people who previously held inaccurate beliefs about support for COVID-19 vaccination or its perceived contentiousness. These results suggest that providing information on public opinion about COVID vaccination has limited additional effect on people's behavioral intentions when public discussion of vaccine uptake and intentions is highly salient.
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pgac031
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Published date: 13 May 2022
Additional Information:
A correction to this research output can be found at: https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad458
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Local EPrints ID: 497798
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/497798
ISSN: 2752-6542
PURE UUID: ea7e4a2c-2eb2-4489-8b09-090e06adf664
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Date deposited: 31 Jan 2025 17:43
Last modified: 01 Feb 2025 03:17
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Author:
John M. Carey
Author:
Tracy Keirns
Author:
Peter John Loewen
Author:
Eric Merkley
Author:
Brendan Nyhan
Author:
Joseph B. Phillips
Author:
Judy R. Rees
Author:
Jason Reifler
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