Encouraging Positive Dialog Toward COVID-19 Vaccines on Social Media Using Hope Appeals, Celebrity Types, and Emoticons

This study examined the effects of hope appeals, celebrity endorser types, and valence of emoticons on COVID-19 vaccine confidence, hesitancy, and intention to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. The potential moderating effects of parasocial identification were also assessed. Experiment 1 was a 2 (hope appeals: high vs. low personal relevance) x 3 (celebrity types: politicians vs. scientists vs. athletes) between-subjects experiment with a sample of U.S. adults (N = 363). Experiment 2 was a 2 (hope appeals: high vs. low personal relevance) x 3 (valence of emoticons: positive vs. neutral vs. negative) between-subjects experiment with a sample of U.S. adults (N = 369). Findings indicated that COVID-19 vaccine messages with politician endorsement and low personal relevance significantly influenced intention to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Moreover, COVID-19 vaccine messages with neutral emoticons significantly impacted COVID-19 vaccine confidence and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Parasocial identification with the endorser was also found to play a role in affecting vaccine hesitancy. Implications for future research in vaccine communication are discussed.