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Abstract
Anti-vaccine sentiment can be extremely resistant to change, making it difficult to promote childhood vaccines. Thus, there is a need for effective strategies to communicate the benefits of vaccination to vaccine hesitant parents. Understanding how anti-vaccine advocates successfully persuade parents against vaccinating their children can provide insight into communication tactics that could be incorporated into vaccine promotion efforts. The internet is an important source of vaccine information for many parents, and plays a role informing vaccine hesitancy. To understand what might make anti-vaccine websites so convincing, we used persuasion theory as a lens to examine what information was being presented, and the persuasive tactics being used to communicate the information. We conducted a content analysis of 480 anti-vaccine websites. Four trained coders coded sites for the content of the vaccine information being presented, types of persuasive tactics used, and values and lifestyle norms associated with anti-vaccine advocacy. Anti-vaccine websites contain a considerable amount of misinformation, most commonly that vaccines are dangerous, cause autism and brain injury. Websites used both scientific evidence and anecdotes to support these claims. Values such as choice, freedom, and individuality were linked to anti-vaccine beliefs. The most commonly co-promoted behaviors included the use of alternative medicine and homeopathy, and eating a healthy or organic diet. Anti-vaccine websites use a battery of effective persuasive techniques to forward their agenda. The use of similar persuasive techniques and tapping into parents’ values and lifestyles are potentially useful strategies for vaccine promotion communication.
Disclaimer statements
Contributors M.B.M. conceptualized the study and led the study design, data analysis, and manuscript write up, and approved the final manuscript as submitted. M.L. contributed to the study design, participated in data collection, collaborated with M.B.M. in the manuscript write up, and approved the final manuscript as submitted. K.E. contributed significantly to the study design, participated in data collection, collaborated with M.B.M. on the manuscript and approved the final manuscript as submitted. A.M. contributed to the study design, participated in data collection, conducted data analyses, revised the manuscript and approved the final manuscript as submitted. Ms. Prickett contributed to the study design, participated in data collection, revised the manuscript, and approved the final manuscript as submitted.
Conflicts of interest The authors have no conflicts of interest relevant to this article to disclose.
Ethics approval This study does not involve human participants and was exempt from IRB review.
Financial disclosure statement
The authors have no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose.
ORCiD
Meghan Bridgid Moran http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6745-6668
Additional information
Funding
Notes on contributors
Meghan Bridgid Moran
Meghan Bridgid Moran is an assistant professor in the Department of Health, Behavior & Society at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. She received her BA from the University of Pennsylvania, and her MA and PhD from the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism at the University of Southern California. She studies the influence of mass media and pop culture on health, focusing on tobacco use, vaccine communication, and cancer prevention.
Melissa Lucas
Melissa Lucas earned her M.A. degree in Communication from San Diego State University (SDSU) and B.A. degrees in Communication Studies and Political Science from University of San Diego. She is currently a Ph.D. student in the Department of Communication at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her research focuses on rhetoric in communication.
Kristen Everhart
Kristen Everhart is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Communication Studies at University of Nebraska–Lincoln. She received a B.A. and M.A. in Communication from SDSU. She studies how people’s communication practices shapes their decision making processes.
Ashley Morgan
Ashley Morgan received a B.A. from Carthage College and an M.A. in Communication from SDSU. She is vice-president of operations at Reality Changers and has served as a lecturer at SDSU. She studies quantitative approaches to intercultural and relational communication.
Erin Prickett
Erin Prickett received a B.A. in Communication Studies and Spanish from University of San Diego and an M.A. in Communication from SDSU. She is currently faculty in the Communication Studies department at University of San Diego. Her research interests include health communication and interpersonal communication.