Apologizing for Intergroup Criticism Reduces Rejection of Public Health Officials' Pro-Vaccine Messages

Area of Science:

• Public Health Communication
• Social Psychology
• Intergroup Relations

Background:

• Public health officials face unique challenges in communicating pro-vaccine messages due to public distrust in the US federal government.
• Conversational norms suggest that criticism, especially from outgroups, can be perceived as impolite and lead to message rejection.
• Distrust in government sources can exacerbate negative reactions to public health messaging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how distrust in public health officials affects the reception of pro-vaccine messages.
• To examine the role of conversational norms, specifically politeness and apology, in mitigating message rejection.
• To assess the impact of source credibility and apology on vaccination intentions.

Main Methods:

• Experimental design comparing reactions to messages from federal public health officials versus private medical experts.
• Manipulation of apology (present or absent) by the source delivering a message critical of the under-vaccinated.
• Measurement of message rejection, perceived source motives, message threat, and vaccination intentions.

Main Results:

• Messages critical of the under-vaccinated were more likely to be rejected when delivered by a US federal public health official compared to a private medical expert.
• An apology from the public health official significantly reduced message rejection, mitigating the negative effects of distrust.
• Apologizing sources were perceived more favorably regarding their motives, and messages were seen as less threatening, leading to higher vaccination intentions.

Conclusions:

• Public health officials can improve vaccine communication effectiveness by acknowledging and apologizing for norm violations, such as criticizing vaccine-hesitant groups.
• Understanding intergroup communication dynamics and conversational pragmatics is crucial for designing effective public health interventions.
• Strategies that enhance perceived source cooperativeness and reduce message threat can increase vaccine acceptance, particularly in contexts of low trust.