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Vaccine Hesitancy in COVID-19: A Behavioural Economics Approach—A Systematic Literature Review

Author

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  • Bhargavi Siram
  • Muskaan Shah
  • Rasananda Panda

Abstract

The vaccination drive for the COVID-19 pandemic was initiated globally more than a year ago, with booster shots being the new addition currently. There are some setbacks regarding the acceptance of the vaccine that the government needs to tackle to achieve a fully vaccinated ecosystem. Vaccine hesitancy is not a new concept and has been witnessed by people for decades. In simple terms, vaccine hesitancy refers to a situation where people are reluctant to get vaccinated despite its availability. This is due to technological retrogression, superstitions, doubt towards the government and misinformation. This paper is a systematic literature review to analyse the behavioural economics theories shown by people towards vaccines in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. We aim to connect psychological and economic factors that lead to this hesitancy through behavioural economics. Availability bias, omission bias, confirmation bias, incentives, anticipated regret, illusory correlation, recency effect, tailoring and framing are the biases that influence decision-making under the behavioural economics framework. This paper is an attempt to analyse these principles and explain potential barriers to vaccine acceptance and intervention strategies for medical professionals and the state. JEL Classifications : D03, D70, I18

Suggested Citation

  • Bhargavi Siram & Muskaan Shah & Rasananda Panda, 2024. "Vaccine Hesitancy in COVID-19: A Behavioural Economics Approach—A Systematic Literature Review," Studies in Microeconomics, , vol. 12(3), pages 371-381, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:miceco:v:12:y:2024:i:3:p:371-381
    DOI: 10.1177/23210222221129445
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jamie Murphy & Frédérique Vallières & Richard P. Bentall & Mark Shevlin & Orla McBride & Todd K. Hartman & Ryan McKay & Kate Bennett & Liam Mason & Jilly Gibson-Miller & Liat Levita & Anton P. Martine, 2021. "Psychological characteristics associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and resistance in Ireland and the United Kingdom," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-15, December.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Behavioural economics; COVID-19; psychological; vaccine hesitancy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • D70 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - General
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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