Development of a Codebook of Online Anti-Vaccination Rhetoric to Manage COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation

Brian Hughes, Cynthia Miller-Idriss, Rachael Piltch-Loeb, Beth Goldberg, Kesa White, Meili Criezis and Elena Savoia
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Brian Hughes: Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL), American University, Washington, DC 20016, USA
Cynthia Miller-Idriss: Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL), American University, Washington, DC 20016, USA
Rachael Piltch-Loeb: Emergency Preparedness Research Evaluation & Practice (EPREP) Program, Division of Policy Translation & Leadership Development, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Beth Goldberg: Jigsaw, Google LLC, New York, NY 10011, USA
Kesa White: Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL), American University, Washington, DC 20016, USA
Meili Criezis: Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL), American University, Washington, DC 20016, USA
Elena Savoia: Emergency Preparedness Research Evaluation & Practice (EPREP) Program, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 14, 1-18

Abstract: Vaccine hesitancy (delay in obtaining a vaccine, despite availability) represents a significant hurdle to managing the COVID-19 pandemic. Vaccine hesitancy is in part related to the prevalence of anti-vaccine misinformation and disinformation, which are spread through social media and user-generated content platforms. This study uses qualitative coding methodology to identify salient narratives and rhetorical styles common to anti-vaccine and COVID-denialist media. It organizes these narratives and rhetorics according to theme, imagined antagonist, and frequency. Most frequent were narratives centered on “corrupt elites” and rhetorics appealing to the vulnerability of children. The identification of these narratives and rhetorics may assist in developing effective public health messaging campaigns, since narrative and emotion have demonstrated persuasive effectiveness in other public health communication settings.

Keywords: COVID-19; vaccine hesitancy; anti-vax; public health communication; attitudinal inoculation; misinformation; disinformation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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