Anticipating pride or regret? Effects of anticipated affect focused persuasive messages on intention to get vaccinated against COVID-19

Highlights

• Both cognitive and affective factors can influence vaccination intention.

• Cognitive attitude plus positive affect message increased vaccination intention.

• Targeting anticipated regret was not effective in increasing intention.

• Vaccination promotion campaigns should consider the role of affective variables.

Abstract

Understanding the factors that increase intention to receive COVID-19 vaccines is essential to maximise the vaccination campaign effectiveness. The present experimental study evaluated the effect of exposure to messages targeting cognitive attitude plus anticipated positive (pride) or negative (regret) affective reactions on intention to get vaccinated. Participants included 484 Italian adults randomly allocated to one of four conditions: 1) cognitive attitude message; 2) cognitive attitude plus positive affect message; 3) cognitive attitude plus negative affect message; 4) control condition (no message). Results showed that participants in the second condition reported greater intention to get vaccinated against COVID-19 compared with those in the control condition. Parallel mediation analysis indicated that the effect of the second condition on intention was fully mediated by cognitive attitude and anticipated positive affect. These findings suggest that future campaigns aimed at promoting COVID-19 vaccination intention could usefully target both cognitive attitude and anticipated positive affect.