Kim Ji Won, Cai Qinxian, Kao Lang, Huang Yi-Hui Christine
Department of Media and Communication, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong.
Department of Social Science, The Hang Seng University, New Territories, Hong Kong.
Vaccines (Basel). 2024 Nov 22;12(12):1305. doi: 10.3390/vaccines12121305.
This study aims to illuminate the role of perceived crisis responsibility in shaping vaccination intention. By using the case of Hong Kong during the COVID-19 pandemic, we examined whether and how the allocation of crisis responsibility to the government predicts the public's intention to take vaccines, particularly by investigating its underlying mechanism.
Based on a population-representative sample of Hong Kong adults ( = 3188), our results indicated that (1) the attribution of crisis responsibility directly led to lower vaccination intention, and (2) it also had indirect influences on vaccination intention through trust and anger; specifically, the crisis attribution resulted in less willingness to take vaccines via a decreased trust in government health agencies. We also found a serial mediation pathway in which anger aroused by the crisis attribution could decrease trust, which, in turn, yielded lower vaccination intentions.
The findings of this study offer theoretical insights into the role of attribution of crisis responsibility in affecting vaccination decisions during a public health emergency. Further, these findings provide directions for crisis managers and public health authorities to develop communication strategies to motivate vaccine uptake and formulate an approach to tackle the pandemic crisis.
本研究旨在阐明感知到的危机责任在塑造疫苗接种意愿方面的作用。通过以香港在新冠疫情期间的情况为例，我们研究了将危机责任归咎于政府是否以及如何预测公众接种疫苗的意愿，特别是通过调查其潜在机制。
基于香港成年人的具有人口代表性的样本（n = 3188），我们的结果表明：（1）危机责任的归因直接导致较低的疫苗接种意愿；（2）它还通过信任和愤怒对疫苗接种意愿产生间接影响；具体而言，危机归因通过降低对政府卫生机构的信任导致接种疫苗的意愿降低。我们还发现了一条连环中介路径，即危机归因引发的愤怒会降低信任，进而导致更低的疫苗接种意愿。
本研究的结果为危机责任归因在公共卫生紧急事件中影响疫苗接种决策方面的作用提供了理论见解。此外，这些结果为危机管理者和公共卫生当局制定促进疫苗接种的沟通策略以及制定应对大流行危机的方法提供了指导。
