Communication, social norms, and the intention to get vaccinated against Covid-19 - a cross-country study in Singapore and Switzerland

Social norms are a promising factor for pandemic control, as they motivate people to engage in preventive behaviours. However, little is known about the influence of perceived social norms on the intention to get vaccinated against Covid-19 and the role of communication in shaping such normative per...

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Main Authors: Geber, Sarah, Ho, Shirley S., Ou, Mengxue
Other Authors: Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2024
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Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/174085
https://ejhc.org/article/view/3638
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-1740852024-03-17T15:33:13Z Communication, social norms, and the intention to get vaccinated against Covid-19 - a cross-country study in Singapore and Switzerland Geber, Sarah Ho, Shirley S. Ou, Mengxue Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information Arts and Humanities Social Sciences Social norms Mass media Social media Vaccination Covid-19 Cross-cultural comparison Social norms are a promising factor for pandemic control, as they motivate people to engage in preventive behaviours. However, little is known about the influence of perceived social norms on the intention to get vaccinated against Covid-19 and the role of communication in shaping such normative perceptions. Moreover, despite the pandemic’s global scale, a cross-cultural perspective is scant in research on Covid-19 preventive behaviour. The present study examined the relationships between communication (i.e., attention to mass media and social media), social norms (i.e., perceived norms in the population and personal environment), and people’s intention to get vaccinated against Covid-19 using a cross-national survey in Singapore (N = 998) and Switzerland (N = 1,022). Multigroup structural equation modelling revealed that attention to mass media was positively correlated with perceived norms in both countries, whereas attention to social media was correlated with normative perceptions only in Singapore. Normative perceptions regarding the population and personal environment were positively correlated with vaccination intention in Singapore. However, in Switzerland, only perceived norms in the personal environment were positively related to vaccination intention. The results are discussed against the background of both countries’ media systems and cultural values (i.e., individualism/collectivism) and are instructive for norms-based interventions in times of crises. Published version This work was supported by the ETH Zurich, Leading House for the Bilateral Science and Technology Cooperation Programme with Asia [COV_08_062020], and the Digital Society Initiative of the University of Zurich. 2024-03-15T01:00:37Z 2024-03-15T01:00:37Z 2023 Journal Article Geber, S., Ho, S. S. & Ou, M. (2023). Communication, social norms, and the intention to get vaccinated against Covid-19 - a cross-country study in Singapore and Switzerland. European Journal of Health Communication, 4(2), 113-139. https://dx.doi.org/10.47368/ejhc.2023.206 2673-5903 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/174085 10.47368/ejhc.2023.206 https://ejhc.org/article/view/3638 2 4 113 139 en European Journal of Health Communication © 2023 Sarah Geber, Shirley S. Ho, Mengxue Ou. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. application/pdf
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider NTU Library
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic Arts and Humanities
Social Sciences
Social norms
Mass media
Social media
Vaccination
Covid-19
Cross-cultural comparison
spellingShingle Arts and Humanities
Social Sciences
Social norms
Mass media
Social media
Vaccination
Covid-19
Cross-cultural comparison
Geber, Sarah
Ho, Shirley S.
Ou, Mengxue
Communication, social norms, and the intention to get vaccinated against Covid-19 - a cross-country study in Singapore and Switzerland
description Social norms are a promising factor for pandemic control, as they motivate people to engage in preventive behaviours. However, little is known about the influence of perceived social norms on the intention to get vaccinated against Covid-19 and the role of communication in shaping such normative perceptions. Moreover, despite the pandemic’s global scale, a cross-cultural perspective is scant in research on Covid-19 preventive behaviour. The present study examined the relationships between communication (i.e., attention to mass media and social media), social norms (i.e., perceived norms in the population and personal environment), and people’s intention to get vaccinated against Covid-19 using a cross-national survey in Singapore (N = 998) and Switzerland (N = 1,022). Multigroup structural equation modelling revealed that attention to mass media was positively correlated with perceived norms in both countries, whereas attention to social media was correlated with normative perceptions only in Singapore. Normative perceptions regarding the population and personal environment were positively correlated with vaccination intention in Singapore. However, in Switzerland, only perceived norms in the personal environment were positively related to vaccination intention. The results are discussed against the background of both countries’ media systems and cultural values (i.e., individualism/collectivism) and are instructive for norms-based interventions in times of crises.
author2 Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information
author_facet Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information
Geber, Sarah
Ho, Shirley S.
Ou, Mengxue
format Article
author Geber, Sarah
Ho, Shirley S.
Ou, Mengxue
author_sort Geber, Sarah
title Communication, social norms, and the intention to get vaccinated against Covid-19 - a cross-country study in Singapore and Switzerland
title_short Communication, social norms, and the intention to get vaccinated against Covid-19 - a cross-country study in Singapore and Switzerland
title_full Communication, social norms, and the intention to get vaccinated against Covid-19 - a cross-country study in Singapore and Switzerland
title_fullStr Communication, social norms, and the intention to get vaccinated against Covid-19 - a cross-country study in Singapore and Switzerland
title_full_unstemmed Communication, social norms, and the intention to get vaccinated against Covid-19 - a cross-country study in Singapore and Switzerland
title_sort communication, social norms, and the intention to get vaccinated against covid-19 - a cross-country study in singapore and switzerland
publishDate 2024
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/174085
https://ejhc.org/article/view/3638
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