Skeptical Health Mavens May Limit COVID-19 Vaccine Diffusion: Using the Innovation Diffusion Cycle to Interpret Results of a Cross-sectional Survey among People Who are Socially Vulnerable

We sought to identify barriers to COVID-19 vaccine uptake among persons who are socially vulnerable in light of the natural cycle of innovation diffusion. Widespread adoption of a health innovation requires a cadre of opinion leaders to build on successes experienced by early adopters. One type of opinion leader in healthcare are health mavens: members of a community who maintain up-to-date health knowledge and share their knowledge others. We surveyed 139 persons who are socially vulnerable regarding their COVID-19 vaccination intention, and evaluated their responses based on psychological traits captured by two scales: innovativeness and health mavenism. Health mavenism was not strongly correlated with COVID-19 vaccine intention. Health mavens often relied on their own healthcare providers (n = 46) and health agency websites (n = 42) for vaccine information. Those who relied on their faith leaders (n = 4) reported a lower likelihood of getting vaccinated (31.5% vs. 76.0%, p < .05). The observed lack of support by health mavens represents a critical barrier to COVID-19 vaccine uptake; targeting campaigns to health mavens may increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake in socially vulnerable communities.

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Work Title Skeptical Health Mavens May Limit COVID-19 Vaccine Diffusion: Using the Innovation Diffusion Cycle to Interpret Results of a Cross-sectional Survey among People Who are Socially Vulnerable
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Open Access
Creators
  1. Rachel A. Smith
  2. Curtis W. Bone
  3. Ashley Visco
  4. William A. Calo
  5. Jessica Wright
  6. Destin Groff
  7. Robert P. Lennon
License In Copyright (Rights Reserved)
Work Type Article
Publisher
  1. Journal of Health Communication
Publication Date January 1, 2022
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2022.2111619
Deposited March 13, 2023

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  • Added Skeptical_Mavens_D4A_supp_JoHC_2022.pdf
  • Added Creator Rachel A. Smith
  • Added Creator Curtis W. Bone
  • Added Creator Ashley Visco
  • Added Creator William A. Calo
  • Added Creator Jessica Wright
  • Added Creator Destin Groff
  • Added Creator Robert P. Lennon
  • Published
  • Updated