Should Public Communication of Vaccination Rates Assume Rationality, Normativity or Reasonableness? Insights from
Aleksandra Lazić1, Iris Žeželj1
1University of Belgrade - Faculty of Philosophy, Belgrade, Serbia.
Psychological Reports
|May 5, 2025
Summary
Public health messaging on vaccination should emphasize high community uptake, as this encourages more people to get vaccinated. This approach is more effective than highlighting low vaccination rates or focusing solely on individual benefits.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Science
- Public Health Communication
- Social Psychology
Background:
- Vaccination decisions are influenced by perceived community vaccination rates.
- Two competing theories predict how vaccination rates affect individual intention: selfish rationality versus descriptive norms.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how communicating vaccination rates influences vaccination intentions.
- To compare the effectiveness of emphasizing high versus low vaccination rates in public health messaging.
- To explore the underlying motivations for vaccination and non-vaccination decisions.
Main Methods:
- Three preregistered online experiments (N=75, 174, 217) and a large-scale experiment (N=1060) were conducted.
- Participants were exposed to different vaccination rate information and messaging strategies.
- Vaccination intentions, decision justifications, and perceived norm relevance were measured.
Main Results:
- Communicating high vaccination rates (90%) significantly increased vaccination intentions, while low rates (10%) did not.
- Participants cited self-protection, protection of others, and collective well-being as reasons for vaccination.
- Self-benefit messages were more effective than other- or collective-benefit messages when vaccination coverage was suboptimal.
Conclusions:
- Public health messaging should leverage descriptive norms by highlighting high vaccination rates.
- Messaging should consider a pragmatic approach, incorporating both self-benefit and collective-benefit appeals.
- Effective communication strategies are context-sensitive and move beyond pure rationality or normativity.
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