Reducing the Spread of Vaccine Misinformation through Behavioral Science
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21142/DES-1803-2026-e0072Keywords:
Health misinformation, moral emotions, fake news, vaccines, social media, behaviour, prebunking, accuracy nudge, argumentation schemeAbstract
Objective: To diagnose and reduce the behavior of sharing fake news about vaccines on social media through a Behavioral Science approach. Method: A mixed diagnostic study was conducted based on the COM-B model and TDF domains, combining a virtual survey (n = 260) with an analysis of posts from Colombian fact-checking accounts. Subsequently, two interventions—prebunking and accuracy nudge—were designed, tested, and evaluated using A/B/C testing, integrated within the Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW) framework. Results and conclusions: Prebunking showed better outcomes with neutral content, while the accuracy nudge proved more effective for emotionally moralized news. This study validates the potential of these behavioral interventions to reduce health misinformation and proposes practical guidelines for public health and interdisciplinary research, including approaches from Computational Social Sciences (CSS).
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