Publication
Title
Pathways to informed choices : the impact of freedom of choice and two-sided messages on psychological reactance and vaccination intentions among individuals who express concerns
Author
Abstract
Background: Reducing the spread of infectious diseases through vaccination faces the challenge of vaccine hesitancy: referring to questions, concerns and doubts arising when making a vaccine-related decision. A motivational state often arising within people exposed to health messages supporting informed decision making is psychological reactance, functioning as a driver to behavior opposed to the one recommended through the health message. Hence, there is a pressing need for communication strategies effective in counteracting reactance to health messages. Methods: This study tested two communication strategies that can potentially reduce psychological reactance and ameliorate evaluations of the message and subsequent behavioral vaccination intentions in the context of COVID19. These were: (1) explicitly reminding individuals of their freedom of choice (to either accept or refuse the vaccine) and (2) providing a two-sided message, including, apart from evidence-based information on the necessity of vaccines, a set of concerns, and questions (about the vaccines) which are refuted immediately. A total of 234 participants who indicated having concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine participated in a 2 (freedom of choice: no choice vs. choice) x 2 (message sidedness: one-sided vs. two-sided) between-subjects online experiment where they received an informational brochure about COVID-19 vaccination. Results: The results show that emphasizing freedom of choice significantly increased perceived credibility of the message, perceived information utility, and ultimately, vaccination intentions. A decrease in psychological reactance mediated these effects. Message sidedness did only show a significant direct effect on perceived information utility. No interaction effect was found. Conclusion: These findings indicate the importance of freedom of choice in reducing psychological reactance, which in its turn can lead to an increase of positive message evaluations and vaccination intentions among individuals who express concerns. The opportunities of message sidedness as an efficacious vaccination communication strategy should be further investigated.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Vaccine / International Society for Vaccines. - Amsterdam
Publication
Amsterdam : 2023
ISSN
0264-410X
DOI
10.1016/J.VACCINE.2023.08.016
Volume/pages
41 :42 (2023) , p. 6272-6280
ISI
001089056400001
Pubmed ID
37669885
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 04.12.2023
Last edited 08.12.2023
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