Vaccinating for My Family or for My Community? The Effect of Message Framing on Parental Intention to Vaccinate during the COVID Pandemic

• Published in: International journal of behavioral medicine
• Main Authors: Wong, Celia Ching Yee, Li, Liman Man Wai, Lee, Danielle Ka Lai, Lorez, Whitney Petit, Lo, Helen Yuet Man
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 13.08.2024
• Subjects: COVID-19; Children vaccination; Message-framing; Parental identity; Communal orientation
• ISSN: 1070-5503; 1532-7558; 1532-7558
• DOI: 10.1007/s12529-024-10313-2

Social media is one of the major platforms for disseminating essential health messages. The present study examined the effect of message framing (self-interest motive, prosocial motive) on an online platform for parental intention to vaccinate against COVID-19. It also examined how the effect may vary across participants' levels of parental identity centrality/salience and community orientation before the vaccine was officially available. Six hundred and sixty-three Hong Kong Chinese parents were recruited, and a total of 278 valid responses were retained in the analyses. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the three conditions: self-interest motive, prosocial motive, and control. Participants in the self-interest motive condition and the prosocial motive condition read a condition-specific message about the COVID-19 vaccine. Then, they reported their levels of intention to vaccinate against COVID-19, including parent-vaccination, child-vaccination, and medical information-seeking. A significant group effect on child-vaccination was found. Participants in the self-interest motive condition reported a higher intention to vaccinate their children against COVID-19 compared with the other two conditions. Results of moderation analyses indicated that communal orientation moderated the effect of a self-interest-motive-emphasized message on parental intention to vaccinate against COVID-19. The effect of a self-interest-motive-emphasized message appeared to be stronger on parent-vaccination, child-vaccination, and medical information-seeking among parents who reported lower levels of communal orientation. These findings provided some initial evidence of the effectiveness of message-framing in promoting parents' intention to vaccinate their children on online platforms.