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A behaviourally informed chatbot increases vaccination rates in Argentina more than a one-way reminder

Author

Listed:
  • Dan Brown

    (Behavioural Insights Team)

  • Adelaida Barrera

    (Behavioural Insights Team)

  • Lucas Ibañez

    (ECOM Chaco S.A.)

  • Iván Budassi

    (Gobierno Federal de Argentina)

  • Bridie Murphy

    (Behavioural Insights Team)

  • Pujen Shrestha

    (Behavioural Insights Team)

  • Sebastian Salomon-Ballada

    (Behavioural Insights Team)

  • Jorge Kriscovich

    (Gobierno de la Provincia del Chaco)

  • Fernando Torrente

    (CONICET, Universidad Favaloro and Fundación INECO)

Abstract

Maintaining COVID-19 vaccine demand was key to ending the global health emergency. To help do this, many governments used chatbots that provided personalized information guiding people on where, when and how to get vaccinated. We designed and tested a WhatsApp chatbot to understand whether two-way interactive messaging incorporating behaviourally informed functionalities could perform better than one-way message reminders. We ran a large-scale preregistered randomized controlled trial with 249,705 participants in Argentina, measuring vaccinations using Ministry of Health records. The behaviourally informed chatbot more than tripled COVID-19 vaccine uptake compared with the control group (a 1.6 percentage point increase (95% confidence interval, (1.36 pp, 1.77 pp)) and nearly doubled uptake compared with the one-way message reminder (a 1 percentage point increase (95% confidence interval, (0.83 pp, 1.17 pp)). Communications tools designed with behaviourally informed functionalities that simplify the vaccine user journey can increase vaccination more than traditional message reminders and may have applications to other health behaviours.

Suggested Citation

  • Dan Brown & Adelaida Barrera & Lucas Ibañez & Iván Budassi & Bridie Murphy & Pujen Shrestha & Sebastian Salomon-Ballada & Jorge Kriscovich & Fernando Torrente, 2024. "A behaviourally informed chatbot increases vaccination rates in Argentina more than a one-way reminder," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 8(12), pages 2314-2321, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nathum:v:8:y:2024:i:12:d:10.1038_s41562-024-01985-7
    DOI: 10.1038/s41562-024-01985-7
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