Using dialogues to increase positive attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccines in a vaccine-hesitant UK population

Abstract

Recently, Altay et al. (Altay et al. 2021. J. Exp.Psychol.: Appl. (doi:10.1037/xap0000400)) showed that 5 min of interaction with a chatbot led to increases in positive COVID-19 vaccination attitudes and intentions in a French population. Here we replicate this effect in a vaccine-hesitant, UK-based population. We attempt to isolate what made the chatbot condition effective by controlling the amount of information provided, the trustworthiness of the information and the level of interactivity. Like Altay et al., our experiment allowed participants to navigate a branching dialogue by choosing questions of interest about COVID-19 vaccines. Our control condition used the same questions and answers but removed participant choice by presenting the dialogues at random. Importantly, we also targeted those who were either against or neutral towards COVID-19 vaccinations to begin with, screening-out those with already positive attitudes. Replicating Altay et al., we found a similar size increase in positive attitudes towards vaccination, and in intention to get vaccinated. Unlike Altay et al., we found no difference between our two conditions: choosing the questions did not increase vaccine attitudes or intentions any more than our control condition. These results suggest that the attitudes of the vaccine hesitant are modifiable with exposure to in-depth, trustworthy and engaging dialogues.

Keywords: COVID-19 vaccines; attitude change; chatbot; counterarguments; dialogue.

Figure 1.

Density plot of raw vaccination attitudes before and after the experiment. 7 = strongly agree and 1 = strongly disagree with the five vaccination items: (i) vaccines are safe, (ii) vaccines are effective, (iii) they have not been rushed, (iv) those who make them can be trusted; and (v) they are necessary.

Figure 2.

Violin plot of average vaccination attitudes before and after the experiment. 1 = negative attitudes, 7 = positive attitudes. The green lines show an increase in positive vaccination attitudes, and red lines show a decrease.