Vaccine Communication: Appeals and Messengers Most Effective for COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake in Ukraine

Abstract

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine communication has been a challenge, particularly as some populations may be highly distrustful of information from public health or government institutions. To better understand the different communication needs in Ukraine, an online survey panel of 168 Ukrainian participants viewed six COVID-19 vaccination ads with three variations on vaccine messaging appeals (potential economic impacts of COVID-19 infection COVID-19 disease outcomes, and social norms related to vaccination) and two different messengers (a peer or a health provider). The ad featuring a health outcome appeal delivered by a healthcare provider was most favored (n = 53, 31.6%); however, across demographic categories, including vaccine hesitancy categories, participants expressed high levels of approval for all six variations of the COVID-19 vaccine ads. When participants ranked reasons why someone may not accept the COVID-19 vaccine, the most prevalent beliefs identified were that the vaccine was not safe, and that the vaccine was not effective. Findings from this study suggest that vaccine appeals focused on health outcomes delivered by healthcare providers are preferred by most individuals in Ukraine; however, individuals are motivated by a myriad of factors suggesting that for vaccine messaging to be most effective, communication should be varied in both appeal and messenger.

What Motivates the Vaccination Rift Effect? Psycho-Linguistic Features of Responses to Calls to Get Vaccinated Differ by Source and Recipient Vaccination Status

“…The dataset is nevertheless mute to whether the observed processes occur in other cultures. Given the large variation of vaccine acceptance between different countries [ 52 , 53 ], studies in other cultural contexts are clearly needed. Third, we used an experimental design.…”

“…Ongoing campaigns could readily be adjusted, and the rift approach can be combined with existing effective approaches. For instance, using expert communicators has been shown to increase message effectiveness [ 53 ]. Unfortunately, it is all too common for expert communicators to highlight their early adoption of the vaccine and their status as being vaccinated.…”

Information Consumption, Trust Dynamics and COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy among Older Adults: Implications for Health Messaging

“…To combat vaccine hesitancy and encourage uptake, research has underscored the potency of strategic health communication that employs relevant messengers and contextualized messages tailored to the needs of different communities [13,14]. Nevertheless, the state of COVID-related health communication has frequently overlooked disparities in health literacy, cultural relevance, and institutional trust among individuals with lower income and communities of color who were also disproportionately impacted by the pandemic [15,16].…”