Stimulating Influenza Vaccination via Prosocial Motives. S3 Dataset

The study included two identifiable victim conditions (one with an elderly victim and another with a young victim), an unidentified victim condition, and a no message condition. We found that any of the three messages increased flu vaccination intentions. Moreover, this effect was mediated by enhanced prosocial motives, and was stronger among people who were historical non-vaccinators.

In addition, younger victim elicited greater sympathy, and describing identifiable victims increased general sympathy and prosocial motives. These findings provide direct experimental evidence on the causal role of prosocial motives in flu vaccination, by showing that people can be prompted to vaccinate for the sake of benefiting others.