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Vaccine Incentives Harm Intrinsic Motivation: Evidence From a Priming Experiment.
Johnny Huynh1, Corey Jacinto2, James Huynh3
1Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA.
Health Economics
|November 11, 2025
Summary
Monetary incentives for COVID-19 vaccination may decrease, not increase, uptake. Offering payment reduced willingness to vaccinate and lowered perceptions of vaccine safety, especially among certain demographics.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Economics
- Public Health
- Vaccinology
Background:
- Monetary incentives are increasingly used to promote vaccination.
- Potential negative impacts on intrinsic motivation and vaccine acceptance are not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of monetary incentives on vaccine willingness among hesitant adults.
- To examine how financial priming influences perceptions of vaccine safety and prosocial attitudes.
Main Methods:
- An experiment was conducted with 513 vaccine-hesitant adults.
- Participants were primed with a monetary incentive for COVID-19 vaccination.
- Willingness to vaccinate, safety perceptions, and prosocial attitudes were measured.
Main Results:
- One in seven participants willing to vaccinate without payment declined when offered money.
- Monetary priming decreased vaccine safety perceptions by 9 percentage points.
- Prosocial attitudes toward vaccination decreased by 10 percentage points.
Conclusions:
- Monetary incentives can undermine intrinsic motivation for vaccination.
- Financial priming negatively impacts vaccine acceptance and perceptions, particularly for men, minorities, and those with low trust.
- Unintended consequences of vaccine incentive programs require careful consideration.
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