Balancing individual risks and collective benefits: Effects of vaccine price, message framing, and value orientations on influenza vaccination in China.

Vaccines are widely recognized as effective tools for preventing infectious diseases; however, vaccine hesitancy remains a persistent global challenge that undermines herd immunity and public health efforts. This study investigates how message framing and value orientation impact Chinese university students' willingness to receive the influenza vaccination at different price points, aiming to inform strategies for promoting health behaviors. A 2 (framing: gain, loss) ×2 (value orientation: individualism, collectivism) experimental design was employed with 1,408 Chinese university students to examine influences on vaccination intention. Vaccination intention decreased significantly as vaccine price increased. Compared with the control group, persuasive messages generally increased vaccination intention, and this effect became more pronounced in paid scenarios. When the vaccine was free, differences among message types were not significant. In paid scenarios, loss-framed messages were more persuasive than gain-framed messages, and individualistic-oriented messages were more effective than collectivistic-oriented messages. Among the four message combinations, the individualistic-loss message showed the strongest persuasive effect. Mediation analyses further indicated that perceived severity of influenza and perceived vaccine effectiveness mediated the effect of the individualistic-loss message on vaccination intention. Vaccination intention is influenced by the interaction between vaccine price and message attributes. Free vaccination reduces the relative impact of message variations, whereas paid scenarios provide more room for persuasive messages to operate. In price-sensitive contexts, individualistic-loss messages that emphasize personal infection risks and vaccine effectiveness may be particularly useful for promoting influenza vaccination.