Carrots or sticks? Do COVID-19 vaccine-hesitant Australians prefer cash incentives or social freedoms?

Most Australians are racing out to get vaccinated against COVID-19, but there remains a small portion who are either unwilling or undecided about getting the jab. So how can we make sure we reach our 70% and 80% vaccination targets to prevent ongoing lockdowns?

We surveyed 1,018 Australians (NSW, VIC, QLD) who were unwilling or undecided about receiving a COVID-19 vaccine to see what would increase vaccine uptake the most: restrictions to social freedoms or cash incentives?

Our modelling suggests there are 3 types of vaccine-hesitant Australians:

Group 1: Resistant

• Not interested in getting vaccinated regardless of restrictions or cash incentives.
• This is about 40% of vaccine-hesitant Aussies.

Group 2: Watch and wait

• Motivated by social restrictions and cash incentives
• $300 cash incentive may increase vaccine uptake in this group by 5 times.

Group 3: Hesitant but cash motivated

• Overall preference to not get vaccinated but may change their mind for a high enough cash incentive.
• $500 cash incentive may increase vaccine uptake in this group by 12 times.

Overall, we estimate that about half of vaccine-hesitant Australians could choose to get vaccinated with the right balance of carrots (cash incentives) and sticks (social restrictions).

All of our results are available online via an Interactive dashboard which allows users to simulate different policy scenarios and observe the predicted vaccine uptake based on our analysis.

To read more about the study, or to find out how we can help you with your next choice modelling study, please visit CaPPRe's website, or contact Dr Simon Fifer at simon.fifer@cappre.com.au