Doctors on the front line to convince people to get vaccinated by fighting fake news. A study by the Research Center for Experimental and Applied Epistemology, Cresa, of the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University of Milan, directed by Professor Matteo Motterlini, reveals that ‘endorsement’ by experts has a positive impact on both vaccination intentions and beliefs about the efficacy of the vaccine for Covid. The same research also notes how repeated exposure to messages that counteract disinformation is particularly effective in guiding people’s judgments in the correct direction.
The effort to vaccinate the world‘s population against SARS-CoV-2 faces several challenges, including people’s hesitation to get vaccinated, a complex phenomenon that affects a significant portion of the world‘s population and needs an equally complex effort to counter . According to the global confidence index published annually by the ISPSOS MORI institute (2021), doctors and researchers are the categories within our society that enjoy the greatest trust and the CRESA study makes an important contribution in understanding whether they are even the most suitable figures to convince people to get vaccinated. To answer this, the researchers conducted an experiment, testing whether or not the push from experts increases the effectiveness of vaccine messages for Covid.
I study
The monitoring involved a sample of 2,277 people – all residing in Italy – through a study conducted during the salient phases of the vaccination campaign. The experiment was organized into 7 consecutive data collections, where the participants received new information 10 days apart. The participants were divided into two groups, an experimental group (1,153 people) and a control group (1,124 people). The researchers provided the same information to both, but manipulated the source, depending on the group.
Participants in the experimental group were revealed that the information provided was supported by the majority of physicians and health researchers interviewed previously, while participants in the control group were told that the information was supported by a general majority of respondents ( that is, completely profane, like them).
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According to the results, while no increase in vaccination behavior was observed, it was found that participants in the experimental group (the one who received the debunking messages proposed by the scientists) showed greater intention to vaccinate, as well as more judgments. positive about the protection offered by vaccines.
The final assessment is clear: scientists and medical experts are not – in the public’s perception – simply a “generally” reliable category, but also suitable messengers to combat disinformation during vaccination campaigns to combat Covid-19. Another data of the research is also interesting: the more debunking messages the participants received, the greater was the increase in their intention to vaccinate, in the experimental group compared to the control group.
The third wave
“We took advantage of the unprecedented opportunity that the Covid-19 vaccination campaign offered, to test a behavioral intervention aimed at verifying the importance of the source of scientific information in increasing compliance with vaccination – explains Dr. Piero Ronzani (Ph.D) – International Security and Development Center of Berlin, Research Center of Experimental and Applied Epistemology, Department of Philosophy, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University (CRESA), first author of this study -. We monitored a significant sample of the population as the third epidemic wave was intensifying in the country and the vaccination campaign was starting. Our results can be explained as a combination of different effects that converge on the same result. The source of the information is not simply an incidental feature of the information, but is part of the mental representation that people form of the information itself. “
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Fake news
Fake news has therefore proved to be a serious problem in a pandemic context. “The pandemic has made clear the huge toll that the economy and society have had to pay to scientific misinformation about vaccines. And the same is true today for another pressing global challenge: that of climate change. This new study shows that tackling disinformation about science is possible, if you know how to do it. Our data indicates that institutional communication should, first, focus its efforts on identifying the specific concerns of citizens; second, respond to them through experts. Doctors and scientists are not only a category generically perceived as trustworthy, they are also the most suitable messengers to combat disinformation during vaccination campaigns “, he added Matteo Motterlinicoordinator of this study, Full Professor of Philosophy of Science at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University and Director of the Research Center for Experimental and Applied Epistemology, Department of Philosophy, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University (Cresa).
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