Designing Strategic Communication Messages for Health in a High Trust Society: Analyzing the Factors Behind Vaccine Confidence in Norway

Abstract

The chapter aimed to identify factors influencing vaccine confidence in Norway. The findings revealed that several key factors explain more than 50% of the variation in vaccine attitudes offering valuable insights for policy and communication strategies to support vaccination programs. The study identified three noteworthy findings: 1. Age and childhood vaccination status were significant demographics affecting vaccine confidence. Younger individuals who did not receive childhood vaccinations expressed lower confidence in vaccines than older individuals who did. 2. Building health efficacy and maintaining the credibility of official sources of health information were found to be crucial for boosting vaccine confidence. 3. Two primary factors were found to be driving vaccine confidence in Norway: appealing to collectivist values and trust in science. The research emphasized that Norway’s institutional trustworthiness remained positive despite the COVID-19 pandemic and it highlighted that there was no significant difference between vaccine confidence and skepticism in the population. This suggests that skepticism should not be equated with vaccine hesitancy. Moreover, the findings suggest that public engagement and credible information are essential – even in high-trust societies like Norway.