JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Before the pandemic, it was already recognized that internet-based misinformation and disinformation could influence individuals to refuse or delay vaccination for themselves, their families, or their children. Reinformation (i.e., hyperpartisan information, often ideologically-biased) – although not inherently disinformative – may add to the challenge of distorted information by propagating polarizing content, which has the potential to influence vaccine hesitancy.

Objective:

This study aimed to evaluate the impact of reinformation on vaccine hesitancy. Specifically, we aimed to understand how a news article’s writing style and presentation layout could influence the perceived tentativeness of COVID-19 vaccine information and confidence in COVID-19 vaccination.

Methods:

We recruited 525 English-speaking Canadians (aged 18+ years) from across Canada to take part in a web-based randomized controlled trial (RCT). Participants were randomly assigned one of four versions of a news article on COVID-19 vaccines, with variations in writing style and presentation layout. After reading the news article, participants had to rate their perception of how tentative the information provided was, their confidence in COVID-19 vaccines, and their attitude toward vaccination in general.

Results:

In the presence of either an ideologically biased writing style or adherence to journalistic standards, the chi-square (χ2) analyses revealed a statistically significant association between the general attitude toward vaccination and the perceived tentativeness of the information about COVID-19 vaccines included in the news article (χ21 = 37.79, P < .0001). Participants who had a more positive attitude toward vaccines tended to perceive the information as more credible. An interaction was found between vaccines’ attitude and writing style; the more people have a non-favorable attitude toward vaccines in general, the less credibility they will give to a message aimed at informing them about COVID-19 vaccination (χ21 = 6.17, P = .01).

Conclusions:

Misinformation may not have such a significant influence on individuals’ vaccination behavior. The study reveals that the predominant factor in shaping individuals’ perception of COVID-19 vaccines is their general attitude toward vaccination, and it also moderates the influence of writing style on perceived tentativeness; the stronger one’s opposition to vaccines, the less pronounced the influence of writing style on perceived tentativeness.