Reaching the Vaccine-Averse: The Role of Cue-based Trust in COVID-19 Vaccination Social Media Vlogs Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy

A multi-method study (Study 1: Focus groups; Study 2: Survey; Study 3: Online experiment) will examine user-generated COVID-19 vaccine information in social media-based vlogs to (1) identify eWOM content attributes in online vaccine experience vlogs that serve as trust cues to individuals, allowing them to form an initial level of trust toward the vlogger and the COVID-19 vaccine, (2) evaluate the efficacy of such trust cues at generating individuals’ trust, and (3) identify cues that most effectively influence individuals’ trust and attitudinal and behavioral responses.