Novelty, Conformity and Trust in Vaccines

Detailed Summary

Despite their established benefits as public measures, vaccines continue to be treated with suspicion by many people, in the US and other parts of the world (Larson et al. 2014; Olive et al. 2018; Lazarus et al. 2020). Since the success of vaccines depends on their high uptake level (Anderson and May, 1985; Fine et al. 2011; Fontanet and Cauchemez, 2020), identifying factors that influence low trust and decision-making in relation to vaccines is essential in order to combat diseases such as the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). The investigators study factors that could potentially influence public's trust in COVID-19 vaccines through a large-scale online field experiment. The investigators conduct an online survey of 32,400 subjects in nine countries (USA, Brazil, Mexico, China, India, Indonesia, Russia, Germany, and UK). The investigators study how willingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccine is affected by (1) the "novelty" of the vaccine technology (conventional vs. RNA vaccines), and (2) the adoption rate of the new vaccine in the country. That is - the impact of controversial science and the force of conformity on the rates of adoption. The latter will also allow us to calculate the "tipping point" adoption rate for each country that will allow the country to achieve herd immunity from COVID-19. The investigators have four hypotheses, below. H1 (Conformity): People are more willing to receive a vaccine as the cumulative adoption rate in their community increases. H2 (Novelty): People are less willing to get a COVID-19 vaccine that uses the new RNA technology, compared to a conventional vaccine H3 (Interaction between H1 and H2): As the cumulative adoption rate in a community increases, the difference between people's willingness to adopt conventional rather than RNA vaccines decreases. H4 (Tipping Point): Each country will have a different "tipping point". This is the cumulative adoption rate after which unvaccinated people are significantly more willing to get the vaccine. Countries that have a higher "honesty index" will have the tipping point appear at a lower cumulative adoption rate. Please note that this study is not a clinical trial. This study is a randomized controlled trial in the form of an online survey.

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