Imagine distant-future outcome: Mental simulation of COVID-19 vaccinations.

What is it about?

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global public health crisis. Although it has been expected that the vaccination of COVID-19 mitigates the crisis, some people are reluctant to receive the COVID-19 vaccination. Our research investigated how mental simulations influence COVID-19 vaccination intention. The results of our experiments revealed that distant-future outcome simulation (vs. other simulations) increased expected positivity and then enhanced COVID-19 vaccination intention. Our findings reveal the role of mental simulations on COVID-19 vaccination intention and provide practical implications for effective health communication strategies for the COVID-19 vaccination intention.

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Photo by CDC on Unsplash

Photo by CDC on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global public health crisis. Although it has been expected that the vaccination of COVID-19 mitigates the crisis, some people are reluctant to receive the COVID-19 vaccination. Our findings provide practical implications for effective health communication strategies for the COVID-19 vaccination intention. Our findings can be applied to various campaigns, including television advertisements, voiceover advertisements, and leaflets. As an advertising strategy, our findings suggest that advertising messages asking recipients to “think about the distant-future outcome” may be an effective way to promote COVID-19 vaccination.