Intention to Receive the COVID-19 Vaccination in China: Application of the Diffusion of Innovations Theory and the Moderating Role of Openness to Experience

Phoenix Kit-Han Mo; Sitong Luo; Suhua Wang; Junfeng Zhao; Guohua Zhang; Lijuan Li; Liping Li; Luyao Xie; Joseph T F Lau

doi:10.3390/vaccines9020129

Intention to Receive the COVID-19 Vaccination in China: Application of the Diffusion of Innovations Theory and the Moderating Role of Openness to Experience

Vaccines (Basel). 2021 Feb 5;9(2):129. doi: 10.3390/vaccines9020129.

Authors

Phoenix Kit-Han Mo¹, Sitong Luo¹, Suhua Wang², Junfeng Zhao³, Guohua Zhang⁴, Lijuan Li⁵, Liping Li⁶, Luyao Xie¹, Joseph T F Lau¹

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Health Behaviours Research, JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
² Graduate School of Baotou Medical College, Baotou Medical College, Baotou 014040, China.
³ Department of Psychology, School of Education, Henan University, Kaifeng 475100, China.
⁴ Department of Psychology, School of Psychiatry, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325035, China.
⁵ School of Public Health, Dali University, Dali 671003, China.
⁶ Medical College, Shantou University, Shantou 515041, China.

Abstract

COVID-19 has caused a devastating impact on public health and made the development of the COVID-19 vaccination a top priority. Herd immunity through vaccination requires a sufficient number of the population to be vaccinated. Research on factors that promote intention to receive the COVID-19 vaccination is warranted. Based on Diffusion of Innovations Theory, this study examines the association between the perceived efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccination, use of social media for COVID-19 vaccine-related information, openness to experience and descriptive norm with the intention to receive the COVID-19 vaccination, and the moderating role of openness to experience among 6922 university students in mainland China. The intention to receive the free and self-paid COVID-19 vaccination is 78.9% and 60.2%, respectively. Results from path analyses show that perceived efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccination, use of social media for COVID-19 vaccine-related information, and openness to experience and descriptive norm are all positively associated with the intention to receive COVID-19 free and self-paid vaccination. The association between the perceived efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccination and descriptive norm with the intention to receive the COVID-19 vaccination is stronger among those with a lower level of openness to experience. Our findings support the usefulness of Diffusion of Innovations Theory and the moderating role of openness of experience in explaining intention to receive the COVID-19 vaccination.

Keywords: COVID-19 vaccination; descriptive norm; diffusion of innovations theory; openness to experience; perceived efficacy of vaccine; social media.