"Influenza" versus "Flu": Do Different Medical Terms Affect Vaccination Intention?

Journal of Health Communication
Christopher L Cummings, Wei Yi Kong

Abstract

Confusion about disease terminology contributes to lower risk perceptions that may lead to lesser engagement in protective measures. Communication campaigns promoting influenza vaccination have become commonplace around the world. Such campaigns vary widely in their terminology used from depicting the disease and response formally as an "influenza vaccination" to more colloquial terms like "flu shot." This study gathered responses from 896 Singapore residents through an online experiment and employed a Chi-square test to assess if different medical terms describing the same preventive measure ("influenza vaccine" and "flu shot") influence vaccination intentions. Results indicate that the formal term "influenza vaccine" prompts significantly greater vaccination intention than the abbreviated colloquial term "flu shot," even when no further information about the disease or vaccine is provided. This finding suggests that the proclivity to use the less formal term "flu shot" in widespread campaigns is less advantageous in prompting intentions to vaccinate against the disease. This may be the result of an activated availability bias brought on by the distinct semantic frames. We conclude that in this instance the medical terms shoul...Continue Reading

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Citations

Mar 16, 2021·Journal of Health Communication·Lauren D RauhRuth M Parker
Sep 25, 2021·Annals of Behavioral Medicine : a Publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine·Bita Fayaz FarkhadDolores Albarracín
Oct 13, 2021·Health & Social Care in the Community·Roberta AdorniPatrizia Steca
Feb 9, 2022·Quality Management in Health Care·Matthew BaltesAleece Caron

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