Stimulating Influenza Vaccination via Prosocial Motives.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Americans do not vaccinate nearly enough against Influenza (flu) infection, despite severe health and economic burden of influenza. Younger people are disproportionately responsible for transmission, but do not suffer severely from the flu. Thus, to achieve herd immunity, prosocial motivation needs to be a partial driver of vaccination decisions. Past research has not established the causal role of prosociality in flu vaccination, and the current research evaluates such causal relationship by experimentally eliciting prosociality through messages about flu victims.

Methods

In an experimental study, we described potential flu victims who would suffer from the decision of others to not vaccinate to 3952 Internet participants across eight countries. We measured sympat

SUBMITTER: Li M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4961402 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature