From Stories to Action: How Framing, Perspective, and Identifiability in Personal Narratives Influence Vaccination...

Area of Science:

• Health communication
• Behavioral science
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Understanding factors influencing vaccination decisions is crucial for public health.
• COVID-19 pandemic highlighted challenges in vaccine acceptance among unvaccinated populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how narrative elements influence unvaccinated individuals' willingness to vaccinate (WTV) against future viral threats.
• To test the impact of actor vs. affected perspectives, death vs. survival framing, and identified vs. unidentified individuals in narratives.

Main Methods:

• 1,545 respondents read scenarios about COVID-19 vaccination decisions.
• Scenarios varied focus (actor/affected), outcome framing (death/survival), and protagonist identification (individual/group).
• Participants reported emotions, perceived risks, and future WTV.

Main Results:

• Narratives focusing on affected individuals and death increased WTV by heightening perceived virus threat.
• Actor-focused narratives, especially with identified individuals and survival framing, were also effective.
• Stories of vaccinated individuals saving others evoked positive emotions, boosting WTV.

Conclusions:

• Narrative strategies can effectively influence vaccine willingness in unvaccinated populations.
• Highlighting virus dangers and personal stories of vaccination benefits are key communication approaches.
• Public health campaigns can leverage emotional and threat-based messaging for vaccine promotion.