Thick and thin trust in translated cross-cultural vaccination messaging

Abstract

Vaccination messaging can be seen as an extreme case of trust-dependent communication. Since most receivers cannot grasp all the science, they must decide whether to trust or not trust the message based on a wide range of possible factors and opinions. When vaccination messaging is translated or otherwise mediated across languages, trust takes on dual dimensions, as doubts may rise about the source of the message and the reliability of the mediator. This article considers those relationships in terms of thin and thick trust, looking at COVID-19 vaccination information with selected multicultural communities in Melbourne and Brussels. Analysing interviews with 39 stakeholders leads to identifying instances where different kinds of trust and distrust are operative. Different codes of ethics are also examined to ask whether appeals to thick trust might at times conflict with the ethical standards applied by professional translators.