How Does Social Media Influence People to Get Vaccinated? The Elaboration Likelihood Model of a Person’s Attitude and Intention to Get COVID-19 Vaccines

Ammar Redza Ahmad Rizal, Shahrina Md Nordin, Wan Fatimah Wan Ahmad, Muhammad Jazlan Ahmad Khiri and Siti Haslina Hussin
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Ammar Redza Ahmad Rizal: Centre for Research in Media and Communication (MENTION), Faculty of Science Social and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Malaysia
Shahrina Md Nordin: Centre of Social Innovation, Institute of Sustainable Building, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Bandar Seri Iskandar 32610, Malaysia
Wan Fatimah Wan Ahmad: Centre of Social Innovation, Institute of Sustainable Building, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Bandar Seri Iskandar 32610, Malaysia
Muhammad Jazlan Ahmad Khiri: Faculty of Language and Communication, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Kota Samarahan 94300, Malaysia
Siti Haslina Hussin: Faculty of Language and Communication, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Kota Samarahan 94300, Malaysia

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 4, 1-20

Abstract: The global COVID-19 mass vaccination program has created a polemic amongst pro- and anti-vaccination groups on social media. However, the working mechanism on how the shared information might influence an individual decision to be vaccinated is still limited. This study embarks on adopting the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) framework. We examined the function of central route factors (information completeness and information accuracy) as well as peripheral route factors (experience sharing and social pressure) in influencing attitudes towards vaccination and the intention to obtain the vaccine. We use a factorial design to create eight different scenarios in the form of Twitter posts to test the interaction and emulate the situation on social media. In total, 528 respondents were involved in this study. Findings from this study indicated that both the central route and peripheral route significantly influence individually perceived informativeness and perceived persuasiveness. Consequently, these two factors significantly influence attitude towards vaccination and intention to obtain the vaccine. According to the findings, it is suggested that, apart from evidence-based communication, the government or any interested parties can utilize both experience sharing and social pressure elements to increase engagement related to COVID-19 vaccines on social media, such as Twitter.

Keywords: social media; COVID-19; vaccine; elaboration likelihood model; Twitter; factorial design; decision making (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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