Norms, Trust, and Increasing Vaccine Registration in Malaysia – Preliminary Results

Dr. N. Izzatina Abdul Aziz, Dr. Sam Flanders, Dr. Melati Nungsari, Chin Kar Yern, Shenyi Chua, Fatin Nadhirah Binti Jamalolail, Tan Zhai Gen | Research Series

Series Type: Working Paper

Research Center: ASEAN Research Center

Abstract
This report summarizes preliminary findings from a survey experiment with 1307 Malaysian respondents. We study 1) trust levels in institutions and norms surrounding the choice to get vaccinated in this country, 2) perceptions on state “carrots” versus “sticks” in incentivizing vaccinations, and 3) whether a cash lottery of RM 500 is an effective intervention to increase the number of registrations for vaccinations. Although our sample is not representative of the entire Malaysian society, they are suggestive and can provide some insights on incentivizing pro-social behaviour with regards to vaccination. Specifically, we found that incentives can encourage vaccine registration.