Abstract
Opinion polls have documented a considerable public skepticism towards a COVID-19 vaccine. Seeking to address the vaccine skepticism challenge this essay surveys the research on vaccine hesitancy and trust building through the lens of therhetorical situationand points towards five broad principles for a content strategy for public health communicators in regards to vaccination: 1) vaccine hesitancy is not irrational per se; 2) messages should be tailored to the various hesitancy drivers; 3) what is perceived as trustworthy is situational and constantly negotiated; 4) in areas of uncertainty where no exact knowledge exists, the character of the speaker becomes more important; and 5) the trustworthiness of the speaker can be strengthened through finding some common ground—such as shared feelings or accepted premises—with the audience. Such common insights are on offer in the literature on rhetoric and persuasion and linked here with the research on vaccine communication and trust focusing specifically on the latter and character.
Highlights
Opinion polls as well as scholarly studies consistently show a considerable hesitancy towards vaccination in general and towards a COVID-19 vaccine (Tyson et al, 2020; Williams et al, 2020)
Another international survey indicated that 14.2% disagreed somewhat or completely with the statement “Accept COVID-19 vaccine if generally available,” while 14.2% were neutral or had no opinion (N 13,426), leading to the conclusion that “the current levels of willingness to accept a COVID-19 vaccine are insufficient to meet the requirements for community immunity” (Lazarus et al, 2020)
Regarding vaccine and vaccine hesitancy, the role of source credibility and strategies to strengthen such credibility are singled out as appealing to expertise, trustworthiness and caring/goodwill (Xu et al, 2020). The latter strategies have been culled from the literature on persuasion and rhetoric, and we turn to a concept squarely rooted in the latter tradition which we argue is very useful for the purpose at hand—improving vaccine communication
Summary
Opinion polls as well as scholarly studies consistently show a considerable hesitancy towards vaccination in general and towards a COVID-19 vaccine (Tyson et al, 2020; Williams et al, 2020). We use the notions of “the rhetorical situation” (Bitzer, 1968) to generate insights for content strategies that build trust in health authorities, generally, and vaccination programs, .
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