Health Communication to Influence COVID-19 Vaccination Intent and Message Propagation (CONVINCE)

Clinical Research Centre, Malaysia

Status: Completed

Conditions: COVID-19; Vaccine Refusal; Respiratory Disease; Lung Diseases; Pneumonia, Viral; Behavior, Health; Pneumonia; Infectious Disease; Respiratory Tract Infections; Coronavirus Infections

Treatments: Behavioral: Health message exposure

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05244356

NMRR-21-26-58107

Details and patient eligibility

About

This is a randomised controlled experiment in the form of a web based survey study which randomly exposes participants to different forms of public health messages, after which participants will be assessed on their intent to take up the COVID-19 vaccine, recommend the vaccine, and also willingness to propagate the exposed message.

Enrollment: 5,784 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Willing and able to give informed consent for participation in the trial
• Malaysian nationality.
• Can understand either the English or Malay language.
• Aged 18 years or above

Exclusion criteria

• Received at least one COVID-19 vaccination dose

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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5,784 participants in 14 patient groups

Descriptive Norm (70%)

Experimental group

Description:

Intervention in the form of a message likened to a social media post. Composed of 3 parts: 1. Opening tag line highlighting the main concern that Malaysians have about the COVID-19 vaccine (safety and side effects) 2. Message content describing that about 70% of Malaysians have expressed acceptance for the COVID-19 vaccine. 3. Rally slogan: "It's safe and effective!"

Treatment:

Behavioral: Health message exposure

Descriptive Norm

Experimental group

Description:

Intervention in the form of a message likened to a social media post. Composed of 3 parts: 1. Opening tag line highlighting the main concern that Malaysians have about the COVID-19 vaccine (safety and side effects) 2. Message content describing that the COVID-19 vaccine has been widely tested including with the elderly and people with existing health conditions, while subsequently highlighting that the vaccine was already received by millions worldwide. 3. Rally slogan: "It's safe and effective!"

Treatment:

Behavioral: Health message exposure

Healthcare worker (HCW) recommendation

Experimental group

Description:

Intervention in the form of a message likened to a social media post. Composed of 3 parts: 1. Opening tag line highlighting the main concern that Malaysians have about the COVID-19 vaccine (safety and side effects) 2. Message content highlights recommendation from Malaysian healthcare workers to get the vaccine, since majority of them has already received it, including the Malaysian Health Director General 3. Rally slogan: "It's safe and effective!"

Treatment:

Behavioral: Health message exposure

Negative attribute framing

Experimental group

Description:

Intervention in the form of a message likened to a social media post. Composed of 3 parts: 1. Opening tag line highlighting the main concern that Malaysians have about the COVID-19 vaccine (safety and side effects) 2. Message content describing the rate of side effects occurring with COVID-19 vaccination in a negative frame. 3. Rally slogan: "It's safe and effective!"

Treatment:

Behavioral: Health message exposure

Positive attribute framing

Experimental group

Description:

Intervention in the form of a message likened to a social media post. Composed of 3 parts: 1. Opening tag line highlighting the main concern that Malaysians have about the COVID-19 vaccine (safety and side effects) 2. Message content describing the rate of side effects occurring with COVID-19 vaccination in a positive frame. 3. Rally slogan: "It's safe and effective!"

Treatment:

Behavioral: Health message exposure

Risky choice framing (Safety)

Experimental group

Description:

Intervention in the form of a message likened to a social media post. Composed of 3 parts: 1. Opening tag line highlighting the main concern that Malaysians have about the COVID-19 vaccine (safety and side effects) 2. Message content describing a risky choice frame which compares the death rates occurring with COVID-19 vaccination versus contracting the virus itself. 3. Rally slogan: "It's safe and effective!"

Treatment:

Behavioral: Health message exposure

Risky choice framing (Side effects)

Experimental group

Description:

Intervention in the form of a message likened to a social media post. Composed of 3 parts: 1. Opening tag line highlighting the main concern that Malaysians have about the COVID-19 vaccine (safety and side effects) 2. Message content describing a risky choice frame that compares the incidence rates of blood clots occurring with COVID-19 vaccination versus contracting COVID-19. 3. Rally slogan: "It's safe and effective!"

Treatment:

Behavioral: Health message exposure

Control message

Experimental group

Description:

Control message containing only rally slogan: "It's safe and effective!"

Treatment:

Behavioral: Health message exposure

Combination message: Descriptive Norm (70%) + Descriptive Norm

Experimental group

Description:

Participants received 2 messages which were exposed one at a time. Sequence of message appearing randomly rotated.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Health message exposure

Combination message: Descriptive Norm (70%) + HCW recommendation

Experimental group

Description:

Participants received 2 messages which were exposed one at a time. Sequence of message appearing randomly rotated.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Health message exposure

Combination message: Descriptive Norm (70%) + Negative attribute framing

Experimental group

Description:

Participants received 2 messages which were exposed one at a time. Sequence of message appearing randomly rotated.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Health message exposure

Combination message: Descriptive Norm (70%) + Positive attribute framing

Experimental group

Description:

Participants received 2 messages which were exposed one at a time. Sequence of message appearing randomly rotated.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Health message exposure

Combination message: Descriptive Norm (70%) + Risky choice framing (Safety)

Experimental group

Description:

Participants received 2 messages which were exposed one at a time. Sequence of message appearing randomly rotated.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Health message exposure

Combination message: Descriptive Norm (70%) + Risky choice framing (Side effects)

Experimental group

Description:

Participants received 2 messages which were exposed one at a time. Sequence of message appearing randomly rotated.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Health message exposure