Encouraging COVID-19 vaccination through behaviorally informed reminders: Results from a national randomized field experiment in Israel

Inducing people to get vaccinated is critical for controlling the spread of COVID-19. We explored the effectiveness of two text messaging strategies for encouraging unvaccinated individuals to get their COVID-19 vaccination. One message emphasized social norms to harness people's tendency to act in ways that line up with society's expectations. The other message underscored the personal medical benefits of vaccination. Both messages indicated that the vaccine was reserved for the recipient at a nearby location. Over the course of eight days, the percentage of people who got vaccinated after receiving the medical benefit message was 2.1% higher than the percentage of people who got vaccinated after receiving the social norm message (p < .001). Our findings indicate that designing vaccination reminders that highlight the medical benefits of vaccination in addition to the availability of the vaccines can increase vaccination rates.