Preliminary evidence that brief exposure to vaccination-related internet memes may influence intentions to vaccinate against COVID-19

Shawn N Geniole; Brian M Bird; Alayna Witzel; Jordan T McEvoy; Valentina Proietti

doi:10.1016/j.chb.2022.107218

Preliminary evidence that brief exposure to vaccination-related internet memes may influence intentions to vaccinate against COVID-19

Comput Human Behav. 2022 Jun:131:107218. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2022.107218. Epub 2022 Feb 1.

Authors

Shawn N Geniole¹, Brian M Bird², Alayna Witzel¹, Jordan T McEvoy¹, Valentina Proietti³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, University of the Fraser Valley, 33844 King Road, Abbotsford, British Columbia, V2S 7M8, Canada.
² Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, British Columbia, V5A 1S6, Canada.
³ Department of Psychology, Trinity Western University, 7600 Glover Road, Langley, British Columbia, V2Y1Y1, Canada.

Abstract

Despite global efforts to rapidly distribute COVID-19 vaccines, early estimates suggested that 29-35% of the population were hesitant/unwilling to receive them. Countering such vaccine hesitancy is thus an important priority. Across two sets of online studies (total n = 1584) conducted in the UK before (August-October 2020) and immediately after the first effective vaccine was publicly announced (November 10-19, 2020), brief exposure (<1 min) to vaccination memes boosted the potentially life-saving intention to vaccinate against COVID-19. These intention-boosting effects, however, weakened once a COVID-19 vaccine became a reality (i.e., after the announcement of a safe/effective vaccine), suggesting meme-based persuasion may be context-dependent. These findings thus represent preliminary evidence that naturally circulating memes may-under certain circumstances-influence public intentions to vaccinate, although more research regarding this context-specificity, as well as the potential psychological mechanisms through which memes act, is needed.

Keywords: Antivaxxer; Attitudes; COVID-19; Hesitancy; Nudge; Persuasion; Vaccine.