Does perceived scarcity of COVID-19 vaccines increase vaccination
willingness? Results of an experimental study with German respondents in
times of a national vaccine shortage
Abstract
Vaccine shortage is still a major problem in many countries. But how
does the vaccine shortage affect people’s willingness to be vaccinated?
To test whether perceived scarcity of COVID-19 vaccines has an impact on
vaccination willingness, a preregistered online experiment with N
= 175 non-vaccinated German participants was conducted during a period
of national vaccine shortage. Perceived vaccine scarcity was manipulated
by either telling participants that COVID-19 vaccines in their district
would be particularly scarce in the upcoming weeks or told that
above-average quantities would be available. The results show that
individuals in the scarcity-condition were significantly more willing to
get vaccinated than those in the surplus-condition were. In addition,
individuals in the scarcity-condition were found to express more anger
towards the debate on relaxations for vaccinated versus non-vaccinated
individuals.