Information From Same-Race/Ethnicity Experts Online Does Not Increase Vaccine Interest or Intention to Vaccinate

Policy Points Mass vaccination is essential for bringing the COVID‐19 pandemic to a close, yet substantial disparities remain between whites and racial and ethnic minorities within the United States. Online messaging campaigns featuring expert endorsements are a low‐cost way to increase vaccine awar...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Milbank quarterly Vol. 100; no. 2; pp. 492 - 503
Main Authors: GADARIAN, SHANA KUSHNER, GOODMAN, SARA WALLACE, MICHENER, JAMILA, NYHAN, BRENDAN, PEPINSKY, THOMAS B.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States Wiley 01.06.2022
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
John Wiley and Sons Inc
Subjects:
Advocacy
Asian Americans
Between-subjects design
Campaigns
coronavirus
COVID-19
COVID-19 - epidemiology
COVID-19 - prevention & control
COVID-19 Vaccines
Cultural identity
Efficacy
Empirical analysis
Endorsements
Ethnic groups
Ethnic identity
Ethnicity
expert messaging
Experts
Health promotion
Humans
Immunization
Information dissemination
Intention
Internet
Latin American cultural groups
Minority & ethnic groups
Minority groups
Original Scholarship
Pandemics
Populations
Public health
Race
Racial differences
Racial identity
Racialization
Respondents
Rules
Same race
United States
Uptake
Vaccination
Vaccine hesitancy
Vaccines
United States
United States > US
COVID-19
vaccine hesitancy
ethnicity
race
expert messaging
coronavirus
vaccination
ISSN:0887-378X, 1468-0009, 1468-0009
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Policy Points Mass vaccination is essential for bringing the COVID‐19 pandemic to a close, yet substantial disparities remain between whites and racial and ethnic minorities within the United States. Online messaging campaigns featuring expert endorsements are a low‐cost way to increase vaccine awareness among minoritized populations, yet the efficacy of same‐race/ethnicity expert messaging in increasing uptake remains unknown. Our preregistered analysis of an online vaccine endorsement campaign, which randomly varied the racial/ethnic identity of the expert, revealed no evidence that information from same race/ethnicity experts affected vaccine interest or the intention to vaccinate. Our results do not rule out the possibility that other low‐cost endorsement campaigns may be more effective in increasing vaccine uptake, but do suggest that public health campaigns might profitably focus on issues of access and convenience when targeting minoritized populations in the United States. Context The COVID‐19 pandemic in the United States has been unequally experienced across racial and ethnic groups. Mass vaccination is the most effective way to bring the pandemic to an end and to manage its public health consequences. But the racialization of public health delivery in the United States has produced a sizable racial/ethnic gap in vaccination rates. Closing this gap in vaccine uptake is therefore essential to ending the pandemic. Methods We conducted a preregistered, well‐powered (N = 2,117) between‐subjects survey experiment, fielded March 24 to April 5, 2021, in which participants from YouGov's online panel—including oversamples of Black (n = 471), Hispanic/Latino/a (n = 430), and Asian American (n = 319) participants—were randomly assigned to see COVID‐19 vaccine information endorsed by same‐ or different‐race/ethnicity experts or to a control condition. We then measured respondents’ vaccination intentions, intention to encourage others to get vaccinated, and interest in learning more information and sharing information with others. Findings Same‐race/ethnicity expert endorsements had no measurable effect on nonwhite or white respondents’ willingness to get the COVID‐19 vaccine, to encourage others to get the vaccine, or to learn more or share information with others. Conclusions Our study provides empirical evidence suggesting online endorsements from same‐race/ethnicity experts do not increase vaccine interest, advocacy, or uptake, though same‐race/ethnicity endorsements may be effective in other venues or mediums.
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ISSN:0887-378X
1468-0009
1468-0009
DOI:10.1111/1468-0009.12561