TY - JOUR
T1 - Anticipation of COVID-19 vaccines reduces willingness to socially distance
AU - Andersson, Ola
AU - Campos-Mercade, Pol
AU - Meier, Armando N.
AU - Wengström, Erik
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Florian Schneider, seminar participants at the University of Basel, and conference participants at the John Hopkins University and London School of Economics Conference on Experimental Insights from Behavioral Economics on COVID-19 for helpful comments. Campos-Mercade acknowledges funding from the Danish National Research Foundation grant DNRF134 (CEBI). Armando Meier is thankful for funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation Grant PZ00P1_201956. We are thankful for financial support from Riksbankens Jubileumsfond and Handelsbankens forskningsstiftelse.
Funding Information:
We thank Florian Schneider, seminar participants at the University of Basel, and conference participants at the John Hopkins University and London School of Economics Conference on Experimental Insights from Behavioral Economics on COVID-19 for helpful comments. Campos-Mercade acknowledges funding from the Danish National Research Foundation grant DNRF134 (CEBI). Armando Meier is thankful for funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation Grant PZ00P1_201956. We are thankful for financial support from Riksbankens Jubileumsfond and Handelsbankens forskningsstiftelse.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Author(s)
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/9/15
Y1 - 2021/9/15
N2 - We investigate how the anticipation of COVID-19 vaccines affects voluntary social distancing. In a large-scale preregistered survey experiment with a representative sample, we study whether providing information about the safety, effectiveness, and availability of COVID-19 vaccines affects the willingness to comply with public health guidelines. We find that vaccine information reduces peoples’ voluntary social distancing, adherence to hygiene guidelines, and their willingness to stay at home. Getting positive information on COVID-19 vaccines induces people to believe in a swifter return to normal life. The results indicate an important behavioral drawback of successful vaccine development: An increased focus on vaccines can lower compliance with public health guidelines and accelerate the spread of infectious disease. The results imply that, as vaccinations roll out and the end of a pandemic feels closer, policies aimed at increasing social distancing will be less effective, and stricter policies might be required.
AB - We investigate how the anticipation of COVID-19 vaccines affects voluntary social distancing. In a large-scale preregistered survey experiment with a representative sample, we study whether providing information about the safety, effectiveness, and availability of COVID-19 vaccines affects the willingness to comply with public health guidelines. We find that vaccine information reduces peoples’ voluntary social distancing, adherence to hygiene guidelines, and their willingness to stay at home. Getting positive information on COVID-19 vaccines induces people to believe in a swifter return to normal life. The results indicate an important behavioral drawback of successful vaccine development: An increased focus on vaccines can lower compliance with public health guidelines and accelerate the spread of infectious disease. The results imply that, as vaccinations roll out and the end of a pandemic feels closer, policies aimed at increasing social distancing will be less effective, and stricter policies might be required.
KW - 512 Business and Management
KW - Economic epidemiology
KW - Information
KW - Public health communication
KW - Social distancing
KW - Vaccination
KW - Vaccine information
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85115417674&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/8f9946df-65e7-361b-8384-2ef46f24dfca/
U2 - 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2021.102530
DO - 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2021.102530
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85115417674
SN - 0167-6296
VL - 80
JO - Journal of Health Economics
JF - Journal of Health Economics
M1 - 102530
ER -
