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Experimental Evidence on the Effectiveness of Nonexperts for Improving Vaccine Demand

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  • 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 (nonexpert 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 and the lower social proximity to low-socioeconomic-status populations on the other hand, which may undermine credibility in settings of low trust.

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  • Marcella Alsan & Sarah Eichmeyer, 2024. "Experimental Evidence on the Effectiveness of Nonexperts for Improving Vaccine Demand," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 16(1), pages 394-414, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejpol:v:16:y:2024:i:1:p:394-414
    DOI: 10.1257/pol.20210393
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    Cited by:

    1. Hwang, Jisoo & Hwang, Seung-sik & Kim, Hyuncheol Bryant & Lee, Jungmin & Lee, Junseok, 2023. "Risk Compensation after COVID-19 Vaccination," IZA Discussion Papers 16053, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Alexander Karaivanov & Dongwoo Kim & Shih En Lu & Hitoshi Shigeoka, 2022. "COVID-19 vaccination mandates and vaccine uptake," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 6(12), pages 1615-1624, December.
    3. Islam, Asad & Kusnadi, Gita & Rezki, Jahen & Sim, Armand & van Empel, Giovanni & Vlassopoulos, Michael & Zenou, Yves, 2024. "Addressing vaccine hesitancy using local ambassadors: A randomized controlled trial in Indonesia," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    4. Susan Athey & Kristen Grabarz & Michael Luca & Nils Wernerfelt, 2023. "Digital public health interventions at scale: The impact of social media advertising on beliefs and outcomes related to COVID vaccines," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 120(5), pages 2208110120-, January.
    5. Alex Armand & Mattia Fracchia & Pedro C. Vicente, 2021. "Let s call! Using the phone to increase acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines," NOVAFRICA Working Paper Series wp2113, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Nova School of Business and Economics, NOVAFRICA.
    6. Eger, Jens & Kaplan, Lennart & Sternberg, Henrike, 2022. "How to reduce vaccination hesitancy? The relevance of evidence and its communicator," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 433, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    7. Marcella Alsan & Amitabh Chandra & Kosali Simon, 2021. "The Great Unequalizer: Initial Health Effects of COVID-19 in the United States," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 35(3), pages 25-46, Summer.
    8. Golin, M. & Rauh, C., 2022. "The Impact of Fear of Automation," Janeway Institute Working Papers 2229, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    9. Yuen, Vera W.H., 2023. "The efficacy of health experts’ communication in inducing support for COVID-19 measures and effect on trustworthiness: A survey in Hong Kong," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 317(C).
    10. Lisa Ho & Emily Breza & Abhijit Banerjee & Arun G. Chandrasekhar & Fatima C. Stanford & Renato Fior & Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham & Kelly Holland & Emily Hoppe & Louis- Maël Jean & Lucy Ogbu-Nwobodo & Benj, 2023. "The Impact of Large-Scale Social Media Advertising Campaigns on COVID-19 Vaccination: Evidence from Two Randomized Controlled Trials," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 113, pages 653-658, May.
    11. Armand, Alex & Augsburg, Britta & Bancalari, Antonella & Kameshwara, Kalyan Kumar, 2024. "Religious proximity and misinformation: Experimental evidence from a mobile phone-based campaign in India," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    12. Federico N Daverio-Occhini & María Montoya-Aguirre & Máximo Ponce de León & L Guillermo Woo-Mora, 2024. "Moral Force: Leaders' Actions and Public Health Compliance in Crisis," PSE Working Papers halshs-04721932, HAL.
    13. Clemens, Jeffrey & Hoxie, Philip & Kearns, John & Veuger, Stan, 2023. "How did federal aid to states and localities affect testing and vaccine delivery?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).
    14. Leng, Alyssa Amanda & Edwards, Ryan Barclay & Wood, Terence, 2025. "Narratives, immigration and immigration policy preferences," SocArXiv c63uq_v1, Center for Open Science.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • H51 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Health
    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination

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