We identify three broad approaches - general public health messages, promotion by trusted politicians, and promotion by trusted nonpolitical influencers – identifying behavioral science relevant to each.
We highlight @deaneckles and colleagues’ research on how vaccine intentions can be increased (in the US and beyond) by informing people about the actually very high levels of vaccination+vaccine intentions in the general public.
We also discuss our research showing that informing Republicans that Republican politicians – esp Donald Trump – support vaccination, increases vaccine intentions in this group. Of note, we find the effect does not extend to people strongly opposed to vaccination.
Finally, we discuss the potential effectiveness of non-political sources with influence among Republicans: faith leaders, NASCAR drivers, athletes, and entertainers.
This is a huge public health problem that is not resolving itself. To maximize vaccine uptake, we should use all of these approaches and more, continue to intensively study new ideas, and replicate extant findings as dynamics shift.
🚨New WP🚨 “Elite Party Cues Increase Vaccination Intentions among Republicans”
How to convince Republicans-biggest holdout group-to get vaccinated? We find pro-vax messaging from Trump+Rep elites works, whereas Biden+Dems message reduces enthusiasm
High vaccination rate is key for herd immunity. But vaccine intentions are deeply polarized. ~40% of Republicans report they won’t vaccinate, essentially the same % as in Nov. A flat line for 5 months! (while other groups - e.g. racial minorities - have shifted substantially)
In pre-reg'ed experiment (N = 1,480), we varied whether Republicans saw endorsements of the vaccine from Republican politicians (including video from Trump’s CIPAC speech), from Democrats (including a speech by President Biden), or a neutral control.