The Impact of Large-Scale Social Media Advertising Campaigns on COVID-19 Vaccination: Evidence from Two Randomized Controlled Trials

Lisa Y. Ho, Emily Breza, Marcella Alsan (), Abhijit Banerjee, Arun Chandrasekhar, Fatima Cody Stanford, Renato Fior, Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham, Kelly Holland, Emily Hoppe, Louis-Maël Jean, Lucy Ogbu-Nwobodo, Benjamin Olken, Carlos Torres, Pierre-Luc Vautrey, Erica Warner and Esther Duflo

No 30618, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: COVID-19 vaccines are widely available in wealthy countries, yet many people remain unvaccinated. Understanding the effectiveness -- or lack thereof -- of popular vaccination campaign strategies is therefore critical. In this paper, we report results from two studies that tested strategies central to current vaccination outreach: (1) direct communication by health professionals addressing questions about vaccination and (2) efforts to motivate individuals to promote vaccination within their social networks. Near the peak of the Omicron wave, doctor- and nurse-produced videos were disseminated to 17.8 million Facebook users in the US and 11.5 million in France. In both countries, we cannot reject the null of no effect of any of the interventions on any of the outcome variables (first doses - US and France, second doses and boosters - US). We can reject very small effects on first doses during the interventions in both countries (0.16pp - US, 0.021pp - France). In contrast with similar campaigns earlier in the pandemic to encourage health-preserving behaviors, messaging at this stage of the pandemic -- whether aimed at the unvaccinated or those tasked with encouraging others -- did not change vaccination decisions.

JEL-codes: C93 D83 I12 L86 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp, nep-hea and nep-pay
Note: DEV EH LS PE
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published as Lisa Ho & Emily Breza & Abhijit Banerjee & Arun G. Chandrasekhar & Fatima C. Stanford & Renato Fior & Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham & Kelly Holland & Emily Hoppe & Louis-Maël Jean & Lucy Ogbu-Nwobodo & Benjamin A. Olken & Carlos Torres & Pierre-Luc Vautrey & Erica Warner & Esther Duflo & Marcella Alsan, 2023. "The Impact of Large-Scale Social Media Advertising Campaigns on COVID-19 Vaccination: Evidence from Two Randomized Controlled Trials," AEA Papers and Proceedings, vol 113, pages 653-658.

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Journal Article: The Impact of Large-Scale Social Media Advertising Campaigns on COVID-19 Vaccination: Evidence from Two Randomized Controlled Trials (2023)
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