The Role of Religiosity in Product and Technology Acceptance: Evidence from COVID-19 Vaccines

L. Bullini Orlandi, Valentina Febo and S. Perdichizzi
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L. Bullini Orlandi: UNIBO - Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna = University of Bologna
Valentina Febo: Métis Lab EM Normandie - EM Normandie - École de Management de Normandie = EM Normandie Business School, UNIBO - Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna = University of Bologna
S. Perdichizzi: UNIBO - Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna = University of Bologna

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Abstract: Previous research on religion and economic phenomena has suggested that religious attitudes are related to risk aversion. Moreover, risk attitudes play a significant role in the adoption and diffusion of technological innovations. However, the role of religiosity in technology-related phenomena is still relatively unexplored. The present study fills this gap and investigates the impact of religiosity on the acceptance of innovative technologies and products in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, we frame COVID-19 vaccines as new products based on innovative production technologies and show that their acceptance by the general public is negatively associated with country-level religiosity. Furthermore, we investigate the role of religious leaders in endorsing COVID-19 vaccines to their followers. Our hypotheses are empirically tested on 1179 weekly observations of vaccination rates in 22 European countries characterised by different levels of religiosity. The results suggest that religiosity is negatively associated with vaccine rates after controlling for country-level social and economic factors. Conversely, the countries where Roman Catholics are the majority religious group display a positive association between religiosity and vaccine rates, highlighting the role of leaders in endorsing the COVID-19 vaccination campaign. © 2022 Elsevier Inc.

Keywords: Adoption and diffusion; COVID-19; COVID-19 vaccine; COVID-19 vaccines; Innovative technology; religion; Religion; Religiosity; Religious leader; risk; Risk attitude; Risk aversion; Technological innovation; Technology acceptance; technology adoption; technology diffusion; vaccination; vaccine; Vaccines (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published in Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 2022, 185, ⟨10.1016/j.techfore.2022.122032⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04454683

DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2022.122032

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