Making sense of unfamiliar COVID-19 vaccines: How national origin affects vaccination willingness

Vaccination willingness is a critical factor in pandemics, including the COVID-19 crisis. Therefore, investigating underlying drivers of vaccination willingness/hesitancy is an essential social science contribution. The present study of German residents investigates the mental shortcuts people are using to make sense of unfamiliar vaccine options by examining vaccination willingness for different vaccines using an experimental design in a quantitative survey. German vaccines were preferred over equivalent foreign vaccines, and the favorability ratings of foreign countries where COVID-19 vaccines were developed correlated with the level of vaccination willingness for each vaccine. The patterns in vaccination willingness were more pronounced when the national origin was shown along with the vaccine manufacturer label. The study shows how non-scientific factors drive everyday decision-making about vaccination. Taking such social psychological and communication aspects into account in the design of vaccination campaigns would increase their effectiveness

A repeated measures dataset on public responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic:Social norms, attitudes, behaviors, conspiracy thinking, and (mis)information

We present a quantitative repeated measures dataset from intensive longitudinal research (diary survey) conducted with participants drawn from a nationally representative sample of the German population. This diary survey addresses a wide range of variables relevant to the COVID-19 pandemic, including information seeking, attitudes towards science, public health, and related behaviors. Respondents were asked about their thoughts, challenges, concerns, and experiences related to the pandemic. Survey responses were requested every two weeks from November 2020 and September 2021 for a total of 18 stages of data collection. The diary survey responses were all matched to the same individual. Using the unique identifier for each individual, the diary survey dataset can be analyzed in concert with a larger representative survey sample that was conducted three times within the same research project over this time period. The diary dataset we present here includes socio-demographic information and other potentially relevant variables, ready for secondary analysis. Initial sample frame: N = 1,480 Initial diary survey sub-sample: N = 13