TY - JOUR
T1 - Coronavirus vaccine hesitancy among unvaccinated Austrians
T2 - Assessing underlying motivations and the effectiveness of interventions based on a cross-sectional survey with two embedded conjoint experiments
AU - Stamm, Tanja
AU - Partheymüller, Julia
AU - Mosor, Erika
AU - Ritschl, Valentin
AU - Kritzinger, Sylvia
AU - Eberl, Jakob-Moritz
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s)
PY - 2022/6
Y1 - 2022/6
N2 - Background: To date, Austria is among the countries with the lowest coronavirus vaccination rates in Western Europe. It has announced the introduction of a general vaccine mandate but is experiencing an increasing societal polarization over this issue. We, therefore, aimed to provide evidence on the underlying motivations of vaccine hesitancy and evaluate what kinds of interventions - information, incentives, and rules - might increase vaccination readiness.Method: We conducted a cross-sectional survey with a sample of 1,543 unvaccinated Austrian residents in October 2021, including two embedded conjoint experiments.Findings: We screened 8,190 individuals to recruit the sample matching the Austrian micro-census. In experiment 1, easing rather than tightening of societal restrictions, a fixed monetary reward compared to a lottery and physicians' recommendations were associated with significantly higher intentions to get vaccinated. In experiment 2, standard approval by European or national authorities and simple information had a significant positive effect on vaccination propensity. Among the unvaccinated, fear of side effects, beliefs that comorbidities or the desire to have children would not allow vaccination, the assumption that the own immune system would provide sufficient protection, conspirational thinking (e.g., the refusal to participate in a 'large genetic experiment'), low trust in societal institutions, and spiritual beliefs were very common.Interpretation: While many unvaccinated showed a low propensity to become vaccinated, we identified a cluster of 195 (23% of the participants without missing values) that could potentially be reached by information and incentives, including people with heightened comorbidity rates or a desire for children.Funding: Vienna Science and Technology Fund.
AB - Background: To date, Austria is among the countries with the lowest coronavirus vaccination rates in Western Europe. It has announced the introduction of a general vaccine mandate but is experiencing an increasing societal polarization over this issue. We, therefore, aimed to provide evidence on the underlying motivations of vaccine hesitancy and evaluate what kinds of interventions - information, incentives, and rules - might increase vaccination readiness.Method: We conducted a cross-sectional survey with a sample of 1,543 unvaccinated Austrian residents in October 2021, including two embedded conjoint experiments.Findings: We screened 8,190 individuals to recruit the sample matching the Austrian micro-census. In experiment 1, easing rather than tightening of societal restrictions, a fixed monetary reward compared to a lottery and physicians' recommendations were associated with significantly higher intentions to get vaccinated. In experiment 2, standard approval by European or national authorities and simple information had a significant positive effect on vaccination propensity. Among the unvaccinated, fear of side effects, beliefs that comorbidities or the desire to have children would not allow vaccination, the assumption that the own immune system would provide sufficient protection, conspirational thinking (e.g., the refusal to participate in a 'large genetic experiment'), low trust in societal institutions, and spiritual beliefs were very common.Interpretation: While many unvaccinated showed a low propensity to become vaccinated, we identified a cluster of 195 (23% of the participants without missing values) that could potentially be reached by information and incentives, including people with heightened comorbidity rates or a desire for children.Funding: Vienna Science and Technology Fund.
KW - Coronavirus
KW - Vaccine hesitancy
KW - Interventions
KW - Conjoint experiment
KW - Cross-sectional survey
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85133213142&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.lanepe.2022.100389
DO - 10.1016/j.lanepe.2022.100389
M3 - Article
C2 - 35475036
SN - 2666-7762
VL - 17
JO - The Lancet Regional Health - Europe
JF - The Lancet Regional Health - Europe
M1 - 100389
ER -