Working Paper: NBER ID: w28593
Authors: Marcella Alsan; Sarah Eichmeyer
Abstract: We experimentally vary signals and senders to identify which combination will increase vaccine demand among a disadvantaged population in the United States – Black and White men without a college education. Our main finding is that laypeople (non-expert concordant senders) are most effective at promoting vaccination, particularly among those least willing to become vaccinated. This finding points to a trade-off between the higher qualifications of experts on the one hand, but lower social proximity to low socio-economic status populations on the other hand, which may undermine credibility in settings of low trust.
Keywords: vaccine demand; messaging interventions; low socioeconomic status; trust in medicine
JEL Codes: I1; I12; I14
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| laypeople (K40) | vaccination intent (I18) |
| expert senders (L87) | vaccination intent (I18) |
| acknowledgment of past injustices by expert senders (F54) | perception of the signal (D83) |
| acknowledgment of past injustices by expert senders (F54) | actual vaccine uptake (I19) |
| concordance interventions (Y80) | vaccination intent (I18) |
| acknowledgment interventions (O36) | vaccination intent (I18) |
| prior flu vaccination (I12) | vaccination intent (I18) |