Preliminary evidence that brief exposure to vaccination-related internet memes may influence intentions to vaccinate against COVID-19

Despite global efforts to rapidly distribute COVID-19 vaccines, early estimates suggested that 29-35% of the population were hesitant/unwilling to receive them. Countering such vaccine hesitancy is thus an important priority. Across two sets of online studies (total n = 1584) conducted in the UK before (August-October 2020) and immediately after the first effective vaccine was publicly announced (November 10-19, 2020), brief exposure (<1 min) to vaccination memes boosted the potentially life-saving intention to vaccinate against COVID-19. These intention-boosting effects, however, weakened once a COVID-19 vaccine became a reality (i.e., after the announcement of a safe/effective vaccine), suggesting meme-based persuasion may be context-dependent. These findings thus represent preliminary evidence that naturally circulating memes may-under certain circumstances-influence public intentions to vaccinate, although more research regarding this context-specificity, as well as the potential psychological mechanisms through which memes act, is needed.

Automated summary

Despite vaccine hesitancy, exposure to vaccination memes can increase people's intention to get vaccinated. However, this effect weakens once the vaccine becomes available, suggesting that the influence of memes may depend on the context.