A self-administered virtual reality intervention increases COVID-19 vaccination intention

Author(s)
Aske Mottelson, Clara Vandeweerdt, Michael Atchapero, Tiffany Luong, Christian Holz, Robert Böhm, Guido Makransky
Abstract

Effective interventions for increasing people's intention to get vaccinated are crucial for global health, especially considering COVID-19. We devised a novel intervention using virtual reality (VR) consisting of a consultation with a general practitioner for communicating the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination and, in turn, increasing the intention to get vaccinated against COVID-19. We conducted a preregistered online experiment with a 2×2 between-participant design. People with eligible VR headsets were invited to install our experimental application and complete the ten minute virtual consultation study at their own discretion. Participants were randomly assigned across two age conditions (young or old self-body) and two communication conditions (with provision of personal benefit of vaccination only, or collective and personal benefit). The primary outcome was vaccination intention (score range 1-100) measured three times: immediately before and after the study, as well as one week later. Five-hundred-and-seven adults not vaccinated against COVID-19 were recruited. Among the 282 participants with imperfect vaccination intentions (<100), the VR intervention increased pre-to-post vaccination intentions across intervention conditions (mean difference 8.6, 95% CI 6.1 to 11.1,p<0.0001). The pre-to-post difference significantly correlated with the vaccination intention one week later, ρ=0.20,p<0.0001. The VR intervention was effective in increasing COVID-19 vaccination intentions both when only personal benefits and personal and collective benefits of vaccination were communicated, with significant retention one week after the intervention. Utilizing recent evidence from health psychology and embodiment research to develop immersive environments with customized and salient communication efforts could therefore be an effective tool to complement public health campaigns.

Organisation(s)
Department of Occupational, Economic and Social Psychology
External organisation(s)
University of Copenhagen, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich
Journal
Vaccine
Volume
39
Pages
6746-6753
No. of pages
8
ISSN
0264-410X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2021.10.004
Publication date
11-2021
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
501021 Social psychology
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Veterinary Medicine(all), Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health, Infectious Diseases, Molecular Medicine, Immunology and Microbiology(all)
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
Portal url
https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/a-selfadministered-virtual-reality-intervention-increases-covid19-vaccination-intention(55d418c5-f230-4401-a781-355acc2635b8).html