Making sense of unfamiliar COVID-19 vaccines: How national origin affects vaccination willingness

Vaccination willingness is a critical factor in pandemics, including the COVID-19 crisis.
Therefore, investigating underlying drivers of vaccination willingness/hesitancy is an essential social science contribution. The present study of German residents investigates the
mental shortcuts people are using to make sense of unfamiliar vaccine options by examining
vaccination willingness for different vaccines using an experimental design in a quantitative
survey. German vaccines were preferred over equivalent foreign vaccines, and the favorability ratings of foreign countries where COVID-19 vaccines were developed correlated
with the level of vaccination willingness for each vaccine. The patterns in vaccination willingness were more pronounced when the national origin was shown along with the vaccine
manufacturer label. The study shows how non-scientific factors drive everyday decisionmaking about vaccination. Taking such social psychological and communication aspects
into account in the design of vaccination campaigns would increase their effectiveness.