ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health Education and Promotion
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1609127
This article is part of the Research TopicInclusive Health Communication: Strategies for Equitable Information DisseminationView all 7 articles
Integrating communication dimensions into health models: understanding COVID-19 vaccination through multigroup analysis
Provisionally accepted
Jimena Collantes-Loo1*
Edgardo R. Bravo2- 1Peruvian University of Applied Sciences, Lima, Lima, Peru
- 2University of the Pacific (Peru), Lima, Lima, Peru
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Introduction: The global COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of maintaining public engagement with vaccination programs through effective health communication, particularly as initial crisis awareness fades. This study develops and validates an integrated model of vaccination behavior by combining the Theory of Planned Behavior, the Protection Motivation Theory, and the Structural Influence Model of Health Communication with health communication dimensions. Methods: Using partial least squares analysis of survey data from 320 U.S. adults, the research examines how message components influence cognitive appraisals (threat and response efficacy) and how this relationship is moderated by information-seeking behavior, information processing ease, and trust in government. Results: Results confirm the core relationships of the Theory of Planned Behavior in vaccination contexts while revealing a temporal evolution in risk appraisals, with severity and susceptibility showing diminished effects on attitudes. While message components show non-significant direct effects on appraisals in the aggregate sample, these relationships become significant among high information seekers and those with greater trust in government. Additionally, vulnerability-focused messages have differential effects based on chronic health status, positively impacting risk perceptions among vulnerable populations while reducing perceived susceptibility in others. Conclusion: These findings advance the theoretical understanding of health communication and suggest implementing segmented communication strategies based on audience characteristics.
Keywords: Health Communication, health models, Trust, Vaccination, COVID-19
Received: 10 Apr 2025; Accepted: 27 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Collantes-Loo and Bravo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jimena Collantes-Loo, Peruvian University of Applied Sciences, Lima, Lima, Peru
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.