They clearly anticipated resistance and devised a psychological operation to induce compliance with these carefully crafted ‘messaging strategies.’
Most will sound familiar; they’re pervasive. Many have been highly effective and have been regurgitated ad nauseam.
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04460703
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/record/NCT04460703
| Study Type : | Interventional (Clinical Trial) |
| Actual Enrollment : | 4000 participants |
| Allocation: | Randomized |
| Intervention Model: | Parallel Assignment |
| Intervention Model Description: | In this study, 2/15 of participants will be assigned to a control message (bird feeding passage), 3/15 of sample to a baseline vaccine message, and 1/15 to each of the 10 other treatment arms. |
| Masking: | None (Open Label) |
| Primary Purpose: | Other |
| Official Title: | Persuasive Messages for COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake: a Randomized Controlled Trial, Part 1 |
| Actual Study Start Date : | July 3, 2020 |
| Actual Primary Completion Date : | July 8, 2020 |
| Actual Study Completion Date : | July 8, 2020 |
| Arm | Intervention/treatment |
|---|---|
| Sham Comparator: Control Control message about birdfeeding | Other: Control message 2/15 of the sample will be assigned to the pure control group, which is a passage on the costs and benefits of bird feeding. |
| Active Comparator: Baseline message These participants will be assigned a message about the benefits of vaccination. All other treatment arms include this baseline language. | Other: Baseline message 3/15 of the sample will be assigned to a control group with a message about the effectiveness and safety of vaccines. |
| Experimental: Personal freedom Experimental message arm. | Other: Personal freedom message 1/15 of the sample will be assigned to this intervention, which is a message about how COVID-19 is limiting people’s personal freedom and by working together to get enough people vaccinated society can preserve its personal freedom. |
| Experimental: Economic freedom Experimental message arm. | Other: Economic freedom message 1/15 of the sample will be assigned to this intervention, which is a message about how COVID-19 is limiting peoples’s economic freedom and by working together to get enough people vaccinated society can preserve its economic freedom. |
| Experimental: Social benefit, self-interest Experimental message arm. | Other: Self-interest message 1/15 of the sample will be assigned to this intervention, which is a message that COVID-19 presents a real danger to one’s health, even if one is young and healthy. Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is the best way to prevent oneself from getting sick. |
| Experimental: Social benefit, community interest Experimental message arm. | Other: Community interest message 1/15 of the sample will be assigned to this intervention, which is a message about the dangers of COVID-19 to the health of loved ones. The more people who get vaccinated against COVID-19, the lower the risk that one’s loved ones will get sick. Society must work together and all get vaccinated. |
| Experimental: Economic benefit Experimental message arm. | Other: Economic benefit message 1/15 of the sample will be assigned to this group, which is a message about how COVID-19 is wreaking havoc on the economy and the only way to strengthen the economy is to work together to get enough people vaccinated. |
| Experimental: Social pressure– guilt Experimental message arm. | Other: Guilt message 1/15 of the sample will be assigned to this message. The message is about the danger that COVID-19 presents to the health of one’s family and community. The best way to protect them is by getting vaccinated and society must work together to get enough people vaccinated. Then it asks the participant to imagine the guilt they will feel if they don’t get vaccinated and spread the disease. |
| Experimental: Social pressure- embarrassment Experimental message arm. | Other: Embarrassment message 1/15 of the sample will be assigned to this message. The message is about the danger that COVID-19 presents to the health of one’s family and community. The best way to protect them is by getting vaccinated and by working together to make sure that enough people get vaccinated. Then it asks the participant to imagine the embarrassment they will feel if they don’t get vaccinated and spread the disease. |
| Experimental: Social pressure- anger Experimental message arm. | Other: Anger message 1/15 of the sample will be assigned to this message. The message is about the danger that COVID-19 presents to the health of one’s family and community. The best way to protect them is by getting vaccinated and by working together to make sure that enough people get vaccinated. Then it asks the participant to imagine the anger they will feel if they don’t get vaccinated and spread the disease. |
| Experimental: Trust in science Experimental message arm. | Other: Trust in science message 1/15 of the sample will be assigned to this message about how getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is the most effective way of protecting one’s community. Vaccination is backed by science. If one doesn’t get vaccinated that means that one doesn’t understand how infections are spread or who ignores science. |
| Experimental: Not bravery arm Experimental message arm. | Other: Not bravery message 1/15 of the sample will be assigned to this message which describes how firefighters, doctors, and front line medical workers are brave. Those who choose not to get vaccinated against COVID-19 are not brave. |
Adara Press 