Objective This study aims to investigate factors influencing COVID-19 vaccination intention in the United States. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 800 respondents recruited from an online panel managed by a survey company. Path analysis was employed to examine the relationships between the study variables. Results First, perceived susceptibility to COVID-19 vaccine side effects was negatively associated with vaccination intention whereas perceived severity did not show any significant impact. Second, vaccine-related knowledge was not directly related to vaccination intention, but it had an indirect and positive effect on vaccination intention via decreasing perceived susceptibility. Third, doctor-patient communication strengthened the negative effect of vaccine knowledge on perceived susceptibility and severity. Conclusion The results of this study offer insights on how to increase people’s vaccination intention and reduce their psychological concerns when making COVID-19 vaccine-related decisions. Practice Implications Government agencies should actively promote the effectiveness and importance of vaccination, while addressing concerns about vaccine safety in the public; Health initiatives also need to enhance the level of knowledge about COVID-19 vaccines through various media channels; Doctors can start the conversations about COVID-19 vaccination with their patients at the point of care and/or via online communication platforms.

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IntroductionA growing body of research has examined the relationship between media exposure to health campaign information and health behaviors, yielding inconsistent findings. To address this inconsistency, it is crucial to investigate the underlying mediation and moderation mechanisms. Building upon the social diffusion model, this study explores the mediating role of interpersonal communication and the moderating role of attitudes in the relationships between health behavioral outcomes and exposure to campaign information.MethodA tobacco control social media campaign were conducted and assessed via an online survey. Specifically, the survey was conducted from the day after the end of the campaign. Respondents were recruited via Sojump using convenience and snowball sampling. Eligible participants were non-smokers and quitters residing in China and had been exposed to the campaign information. Data were analyzed using the R software.ResultsA total of 326 eligible participants were included in the final analysis. The results suggest that social media exposure to campaign information is indirectly associated with both egoistic and altruistic behavioral intentions through interpersonal communication. However, attitudes toward tobacco control weaken the association between social media exposure to campaign information and interpersonal communication about tobacco risks. Furthermore, the indirect effect of social media exposure to campaign information on egoistic and altruistic behavioral intentions, mediated by interpersonal communication about tobacco risks, is contingent upon attitudes toward tobacco control.ConclusionThis study tests and supports the proposition that interpersonal communication mediates the effects of campaign information exposure on health behaviors in the context of China, which contributes to the existing literature on the health effects of campaign information exposure and provides implications for the design of health campaigns to more effectively promote healthy behaviors.

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