AUTHOR=Wei Jianliang , Zhao Minjun , Meng Fei , Chen Jingjing , Xu Yingying 

TITLE=Influence of Internet Celebrity Medical Experts on COVID-19 Vaccination Intention of Young Adults: An Empirical Study From China

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2022.887913

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2022.887913

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=With the continuous expansion of COVID-19, many medical experts with the characteristics of "Internet Celebrities" are increasingly influencing people's vaccination behavior, which is crucial for the overall social welfare. In order to explore the influence of Internet celebrity medical experts on people's vaccination against COVID-19, this paper constructed a conceptual model of COVID-19 vaccination intention based on the professionalism, morality, interaction dimension, and information content of Internet celebrity medical experts, in order to generate perceived value by establishing a trusting relationship between them and the influenced people. The empirical analysis shows that interactivity and information content are important factors determining the influence of Internet celebrity medical experts. In the context of high demands for COVID-19 vaccines, it is more effective to influence vaccination intention through strong demand than through generating trust. The empirical analysis shows that Internet celebrity medical expert have significant role in COVID-19 vaccination, and interactivity and information content are two important factors determining the influence. Through the connection of information-demand, Internet celebrity medical expert can greatly influence the perceived value, which coaction with trust to influence the final intention. Therefore, the COVID-19 vaccination persuasion information released by Internet celebrity medical expert should be very elaborately organized and demonstrated, especially from the demand aspect, and government could put more resource to support the information to spread.