Message Framing and COVID-19 Vaccination Intention: Moderating Roles of Partisan Media Use and Pre‑attitudes about Vaccination

"At a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has become a highly politicized issue, understanding how to reach different groups of individuals to promote the vaccine is critical."

Vaccine hesitancy is a significant barrier for successful implementation of the COVID-19 vaccination effort. Prior studies on the impact of news media use on vaccination behaviour indicate that message frames (for example, presenting the same information in terms of loss or gain) may play a role. The main purposes of the study are to examine the impact of four different types of message frames on COVID-19 vaccination intention and to understand the moderating role of two variables: vaccination attitudes and partisan media use in the United States (US), a country where the COVID-19 pandemic has been politicised.

The paper begins by reviewing the concept of framing in the context of health communication and vaccine promotion. Scholarly attention in this area has focused on loss and gain frames, which are drawn from Tversky and Kahneman's (1981) prospect theory: Loss frames emphasise the unpleasant consequences or disadvantages if one does not comply with the recommended behaviour(s), whereas gain frames underscore the desirable and pleasant consequences if one does. Beyond psychological factors, studies have examined whether and how message framing in terms of the benefit to the individual (individualism) or to the group (collectivism) impacts decision-making - e.g., about vaccination - in different cultures.

The study used a between-subject randomised online experiment with 387 US adults (female 43%, mean age 37 years). The manipulation messages were presented as screenshots from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s Facebook page (see one example, above). The study consisted of four conditions: gain and individual frame; gain and collective frame; loss and individual frame; and loss and collective frame. Various questions assessed: participants' intention to get a COVID-19 vaccine when available; the nature of their media use (politically liberal (e.g., the MSNBC cable news channel) or conservative - e.g., the FOX cable news channel); and their vaccination attitudes.

The findings show that loss vs. gain message frames did not have an impact on COVID-19 vaccine intention. The moderating effects of conservative media and attitudes show that in general, those who consumed lower conservative media and held positive attitudes were higher on vaccine intention, and individual vs. collective frames did not have a strong impact. However, among those participants who scored high on conservative media use, and held negative vaccination attitudes, the individual frame had a higher impact on vaccine intention. ("Perhaps these findings can be explained by research that shows that in general, conservative thinking have less empathy for a larger community...")

Reflecting on the findings, the researcher notes: "The findings show that vaccine promotion messages will have to pay attention to these nuances and target different audiences with specific messages. For example, public health organizations should keep in mind that people with different ideologies and worldviews may resonate with different messages about the vaccine. It will help to have specific types of content to reach out to these individuals."