Vaccine Name Framing, Relationship Status, and Fear: Examining Heterosexual Men’s Intention to Vaccinate Against Human Papillomavirus Infection

Against the backdrop of calling for nonfemale oriented promotion of vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV), we examined three potential names to represent the vaccine in promotion among men: HPV Vaccine, Cervical Cancer Vaccine, and Genital Warts Vaccine. Specifically, we examined how vaccine names, functioning as label frames, influenced men’s vaccination intention through their fear, and how such influence varied across men’s relationship status. We conducted a three (vaccine name frames) by two (relationship status) between subject factorial experiment with 278 heterosexual men. The moderated mediation analysis showed that vaccine name framing indirectly influenced men’s vaccination intention through their fear toward spreading the virus to relational partners, and such indirect effect varied across men’s relationship status. Specifically, for men in a relationship, Cervical Cancer Vaccine, compared to Genital Warts Vaccine, triggered a higher level of fear toward spreading the virus to relational partners and, in turn, increased men’s intention for vaccination. For single men, HPV Vaccine, compared to Cervical Cancer Vaccine, induced a higher level of fear toward spreading the virus to future relational partners and, in turn, increased vaccination intention. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.