Experimental Evidence on the Effectiveness of Non-Experts for Improving Vaccine Demand

Marcella Alsan and Sarah Eichmeyer

NBER Working Paper No. 28593, March 2021 (Revised June 2021)

We experimentally vary signals and senders to identify which combination will increase vaccine demand among a disadvantaged population in the United States – Black and White men without a college education. Our main finding is that laypeople (non-expert concordant senders) are most effective at promoting vaccination, particularly among those least willing to become vaccinated. This finding points to a tradeoff between the higher qualifications of experts on the one hand, but lower social proximity to low socioeconomic status populations on the other hand, which may undermine credibility in settings of low trust.