Researchers study drafting messages for vaccine compliance

In a study funded by Yale University – and started before the rollout of COVID-19 injections – researchers tested different messages about how best to convince people to get injections.

Officially titled, “A compelling message for the use of a COVID-19 vaccine,”^first Researchers must have thought in advance that people would be wary of an experimental gene therapy, and began working to decipher the best propaganda campaign to ensure their widespread uptake.

The study’s summary begins with questionable claims at the outset, likening the myth that “mass vaccination remains the best option for controlling the spread of COVID-19 and ending epidemic”.² However, the authors did not expand on how this would be done, since just three months after injection, vaccinated people are likely to pass COVID-19 to their contacts almost as well as non-injected individuals.^3,4

The reasons why people might be reluctant to get a COVID-19 shot – such as concerns about safety and effectiveness – were also overlooked by the study,⁵ but only interested in how to best use psychological tactics to get infected people on board.

Guilt, Anger, Shame or Cowardice – What Works Best?

The full study, published in the December 3, 2021 issue of Vaccines,⁶ involved two experiments. The first experimental “treatment message” was designed to influence people’s intentions about whether or not to inject. For the control group, subjects were shown bird feeding notices, while others read basic vaccine announcements, as follows:

“To end the COVID-19 outbreak, it is important that people get vaccinated against COVID-19 whenever a vaccine becomes available. Getting vaccinated for COVID-19 means you’re less likely to get COVID-19 or spread it to others. Vaccines are safe and widely used to prevent disease, and vaccines are estimated to save millions of lives each year.”

For testing, the following messages were added to the base message:⁷

For example, the guilt message, designed to work because of social pressure, reads:⁸

“The message is about the danger that COVID-19 poses to the health of families and communities. The best way to protect them is to get vaccinated and society must work together to get enough people vaccinated. It then asked participants to imagine the guilt they would feel if they didn’t get vaccinated and spread the disease.”

Never mind that this claim is false, as they can still spread disease if they are injected. Similarly, misleading messages designed to downplay attitudes, guilt, and shame that get people shot include:⁹

• “If a person is not vaccinated, it means that they do not understand how infections are spread or are ignorant of science.”
• “Those who choose not to get vaccinated against COVID-19 are not brave.”
• “[I]t asked participants to imagine the shame they would feel if they were not vaccinated and spread the disease. “
• “[I]t asked participants to imagine the anger they would feel if they didn’t get vaccinated and spread the disease. “

The researchers explained it this way:^ten

“A small group of messages that promote the idea that mass vaccination is a matter of collective action and highlight the social benefits of vaccination or the reputational costs a person can incur if a person who chooses not to get vaccinated. Another subgroup of messages builds on contemporary concerns about the pandemic, such as restrictions on personal freedom or economic security.

We have found that persuasive messages recommending vaccination because of social benefits and concerns about social image are effective in increasing intended reception and willingness to persuade others and reviews of unvaccinated people. “

Propaganda messages created without the backing of science

It’s ironic that research includes a “trust in science” message, since the messages used in research were created in early or mid-2020, before science was ready to support them. However, as a Child Health Defense (CHD) article noted, “Messages tested by researchers have been woven into mainstream media narratives and political campaigns. public health epidemic around the world”.¹¹

In the second part of the study, the most effective messages from part one were tested on a nationally representative sample of adults in the United States. This includes the base message along with community concern, community concern + embarrassment, lack of courage, distrust of science, and individual liberties messages.

They found that, compared with the control group, psychological messages related to community interest, reciprocity, and embarrassment were most effective, leading to a 30 percent increase in intention to inject drugs. %, along with a 24% increase in willingness to tell friends to get injections. and a 38% increase in negative opinions of those who refused injections.^twelfth

The messages are designed to not only impact people on an individual level, but to further divide society by encouraging people to make negative judgments about others and pressuring others to conform. “social norms”. According to the researchers:

“Viewing vaccination through the lens of a collective action issue shows that in addition to increasing individuals’ intention to vaccinate, effective public health messages will also increase willingness to vaccinate. of people in encouraging people close to them to get vaccinated and have negative judgments about people who are not vaccinated.

By encouraging those close to them to get vaccinated, people both promote adherence to social norms and increase their level of protection against the disease. In addition, by rating unvaccinated people more negatively, they exert social pressure on others to promote cooperative behavior.”

Considered the ‘Ethically Right Choice’

Since the start of the pandemic, compliance with confusing and questionable public health mandates has been viewed as a matter of higher morals – to the extent that those who question the mandate to wear masks are dismissed. labeled as “her killers”.¹³

In an article published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2020, it is further noted that “immunization is a social contract in which cooperation is the morally correct choice.” .¹⁴ It further suggests that, under this social contract, people should change their behavior toward those who choose not to inject, and indeed, those who are “particularly compliant”, i.e. vaccinated, at least more generous to non-injectors.¹⁵ More:¹⁶

“If so, those who are vaccinated should respond by being more generous to those who have been vaccinated. Conversely, if the other is unvaccinated and violates the social contract, the charity will decline.”

Propaganda aimed at making people feel ‘disgusting’

CHD points out that one of the authors of the Yale study, Saad Omer, “has a deep interest in the public health message” and is the man behind “Building Vaccine Confidence Through Strategies”. proper messaging service” in 2020, using social media to convince people to take COVID-19 and other shots.¹⁷

Working with the World Health Organization’s Strategic Advisory Group consisting of the COVID-19 Vaccine Expert Group, Omer detailed what has been done in the past to increase uptake of the HPV vaccine and suggested Note that it may work for COVID-19 shots. The solution, he said, involves attracting values ​​and bowing so low that one feels disgusted while presenting vaccines as a form of purity. CHD quotes Omer, who said:¹⁸

“We wanted to test, can we have a message based on purity? So we showed them pictures of genital warts and described a detail, a story, a story, about someone having genital warts and how disgusting they are and How pure vaccines help restore the sanctity of the body.

So we only analyzed these data. This is a randomized controlled trial with apriori results. We see an effect of about 20 percentage points on the likelihood of people getting the HPV vaccine in the next 6 months… We’re testing freedom-based or liberal-mediated messages around this behavior. related to the COVID-19 outbreak.

That wearing a mask or taking final precautions sets you free, regaining your autonomy. Because if disease rates are low, your activities can continue.”

This is propaganda similar to what is being used to advertise vaccine passports, with many people willing to give up freedoms that, once lost, can be very difficult, if not impossible. can not, to get back. By showing proof that you have received a shot of COVID-19, either through a digital certificate or an app on your phone, it is hoped that you can once again travel freely, attend Attend a concert or enjoy a meal in your favorite restaurant, just like you used to.

Except, being asked to show “documents” to live your life isn’t really freedom – it’s the loss of freedom you once had, one disappearing right before your eyes and another. is setting the stage for increased surveillance and control, and eroding your privacy.

Propaganda is real misinformation

Your carefully crafted message based on your emotions and moral compass is just one part of a campaign to ensure the public adheres to mainstream stories. Fact-checking is another tool being used to control virtually everything you see and hear online, in the service of a larger agenda.¹⁹

Take the term “conspiracy theory”, now used to dismiss narratives that go against reality. This was on purpose, according to investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson, as the term itself was coined by the CIA as a response to theories about the JFK assassination.

Debunked, quackery, and antivaccine are all similar terms used as propaganda tools. “There’s a bunch of propaganda phrases I’ve outlined that are signals. When you hear them, they make you think, ‘I need to learn more about it,’ says Attkisson.²⁰

Likewise, the CHD explains, “Attempts to weed out ‘misinformation’ have resulted in unprecedented censorship of virtually everything outside of the state-approved consensus and created a captive audience willing to accept a strange story.”²¹

It is important to note that messages are being carefully crafted to model human behavior in compliance with COVID-19 shots and other public health measures – and acknowledging that the use of Using propaganda is perfectly legal, even in the United States

As CHD continues, “And thanks to billions of dollars in funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we are being influenced by the best messages that money can buy – even if the messages are true.”²²

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