Overcoming COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy: An investigation of the Foreign Language Effect

Abstract

Vaccine hesitancy remains one of the greatest challenges for global health. Previous research has shown that the recruitment of rational processes is increased in hypothetical decision-making scenarios when the underpinning information is presented in a foreign language. We investigate whether vaccine campaigns could benefit from this Foreign Language Effect (FLE) in order to overcome vaccine hesitancy. We conceptually replicated a recent study on COVID-19 vaccine campaigns (Freeman et al. 2021) to assess whether information can more successfully reduce vaccine hesitancy when presented in a foreign language as well as how other factors, such as language proficiency, impact the FLE. Based on a survey of 436 participants, we conclude that there may be the potential to lower vaccine hesitancy among individuals with English as a foreign language by presenting information in English, rather than in their native language. Conversely, participants who are native speakers of English and negatively predisposed against the COVID-19 vaccine react more negatively to information they read in a foreign language compared to their native language.