Böhm Robert, Meier Nicolas W, Korn Lars, Betsch Cornelia
School of Business and Economics, RWTH Aachen University.
Center for Empirical Research in Economics and Behavioral Sciences (CEREB) and Media and Communication Science, University of Erfurt.
Health Econ. 2017 Dec;26 Suppl 3:66-75. doi: 10.1002/hec.3584.
Annual vaccination is the most effective way to prevent seasonal influenza. However, globally, the recommendations vary from country to country, ranging from universal recommendations, risk-group-specific recommendations, to no recommendation at all. Due to high diversity both in recommendation practice and country-specific preconditions, it is difficult to determine the effect of different recommendations on vaccine uptake. This incentivised laboratory experiment (N = 288) tests the behavioural consequences of different recommendations in a repeated interactive vaccination game. The participants are part of heterogeneous groups, comprised of low- and high-risk type of players. They receive either a universal, risk-group-specific or no recommendation prior to their vaccination decisions. Results show that individuals are sensitive to the recommendations. In detail, a risk-group-specific recommendation increases vaccine uptake of high-risk types. However, at the same time, it decreases vaccine uptake of low-risk types. The results imply that when the proportion of low-risk types in a population is considerably larger than the high-risk group, a risk-group-specific (vs. universal) recommendation comes at the cost of decreased social benefit of vaccination due to the overall lower vaccine uptake. Policy decision-making should therefore complement epidemiological considerations with potential positive and negative behavioural consequences of vaccination recommendations.
年度疫苗接种是预防季节性流感最有效的方法。然而，在全球范围内，各国的建议各不相同，从普遍建议、针对特定风险群体的建议到完全不建议。由于建议实施情况和各国具体前提条件差异很大，很难确定不同建议对疫苗接种率的影响。这项激励性实验室实验（N = 288）在一个重复的互动疫苗接种游戏中测试了不同建议的行为后果。参与者属于异质群体，由低风险和高风险类型的玩家组成。在做出疫苗接种决定之前，他们会收到普遍建议、针对特定风险群体的建议或不收到任何建议。结果表明，个体对建议很敏感。具体而言，针对特定风险群体的建议会提高高风险类型人群的疫苗接种率。然而，与此同时，它会降低低风险类型人群的疫苗接种率。结果表明，当人群中低风险类型的比例远大于高风险群体时，由于总体疫苗接种率较低，针对特定风险群体（相对于普遍）的建议是以降低疫苗接种的社会效益为代价的。因此，政策决策应以疫苗接种建议可能产生的正面和负面行为后果来补充流行病学方面的考虑。
