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Vaccine-hesitant adults were more likely to consider getting a COVID-19 vaccine when public health messages acknowledged distrust of government and affirmed values such as personal liberty, a new study found.

Researchers at Oregon State University-Cascades developed vaccination messages tailored to values commonly held by vaccine-hesitant individuals—those who delay accepting or refuse vaccinations despite their availability—and tested them in two online surveys involving 1,170 unvaccinated U.S. adults in spring 2021 as vaccines became widely available.

In the first survey, the proportion of participants who said they would get vaccinated as soon as possible after reading a message that acknowledged distrust of government increased by 16 percentage points. In the second survey, after hearing a message that affirmed the value of personal liberty, the proportion of participants who said they were more likely to get vaccinated increased by nearly 8 percentage points.

The study's authors, Christopher Wolsko, an associate professor of psychology, and Elizabeth Marino, an associate professor of anthropology, emphasized that the approach is not about persuading people to take a specific action.

"We're not saying this is a way to get people to take the vaccine, but it is a way to create the conditions for information to be heard and considered," Wolsko said.

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