A Mega-Study of Text-Message Nudges Encouraging Patients to Get Vaccinated at their Pharmacy
30 Pages Posted: 19 Feb 2021 Last revised: 24 May 2021
Katherine L. Milkman
University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School
Mitesh S. Patel
University of Pennsylvania - Perelman School of Medicine, Department of Medicine
Linnea Gandhi
University of Pennsylvania
Heather Graci
University of Pennsylvania
Dena Gromet
University of Pennsylvania
Hung Ho
University of Pennsylvania - Operations & Information Management Department
Joseph Kay
University of Pennsylvania
Timothy Lee
University of Pennsylvania
Jon Bogard
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Anderson School of Management, Students
Ilana Brody
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Christopher Chabris
Geisinger Health System
Edward Chang
University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School, Operations & Information Management Department, Students
Gretchen B. Chapman
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Jennifer Dannals
Stanford University
Noah J. Goldstein
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - Anderson School of Management
Amir Goren
Geisinger Health System
Hal Hershfield
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - Marketing Area
Alex Hirsch
University of Pennsylvania
Jillian Hmurovic
University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School
Samantha Horn
Carnegie Mellon University
Dean Karlan
Northwestern University
Ariella Kristal
Harvard University
Cait Lamberton
The Wharton School
Michelle N. Meyer
Clarkson University–Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Bioethics Program; Geisinger Health System, Center for Translational Bioethics and Health Care Policy
Allison Oakes
University of Pennsylvania
Maurice E. Schweitzer
University of Pennsylvania - Operations & Information Management Department
Maheen Shermohammed
Geisinger Health System
Joachim H. Talloen
Carnegie Mellon University
Caleb Warren
University of Arizona
Ashley Whillans
Harvard University
Kuldeep Yadav
University of Pennsylvania
Julian Zlatev
Harvard Business School
Ron Berman
University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School
Chalanda Evans
University of Pennsylvania - Perelman School of Medicine
Christopher Snider
University of Pennsylvania - Perelman School of Medicine
Eli Tsukayama
University of Hawaii at West O'ahu
Christophe Van den Bulte
University of Pennsylvania - Marketing Department
Kevin Volpp
University of Pennsylvania - Perelman School of Medicine, Department of Medicine
Angela Duckworth
University of Pennsylvania - Department of Psychology
Date Written: February 5, 2021
Abstract
We partnered with Walmart to test 22 nudges designed to boost vaccination rates in their pharmacies. Nudges were delivered via text message to over 650,000 Walmart pharmacy patients in the fall of 2020 and encouraged patients to visit Walmart for a flu vaccine. We demonstrate that behaviorally informed messages increase pharmacy vaccination rates by an average of 6.7% over a roughly three-month follow-up period. The most effective messages in our field experiment matched the tone of typical pharmacy communications and reminded patients that a flu shot was waiting for them. These insights suggest that carefully crafted messages informed by the results of this study could nudge the adoption of other vaccines for other infectious diseases, including COVID-19.
Keywords: vaccination, COVID-19, nudge, influenza, field experiment
JEL Classification: I12
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Mitesh S. Patel
University of Pennsylvania - Perelman School of Medicine, Department of Medicine
Philadelphia, PA 19104
United States
Linnea Gandhi
University of Pennsylvania ( email )
Philadelphia, PA 19104
United States
Heather Graci
University of Pennsylvania ( email )
Philadelphia, PA 19104
United States
Dena Gromet
University of Pennsylvania ( email )
Philadelphia, PA 19104
United States
Quoc Dang Hung Ho

University of Pennsylvania - Operations & Information Management Department ( email )
Philadelphia, PA 19104
United States
Joseph Kay
University of Pennsylvania ( email )
Philadelphia, PA 19104
United States
Timothy Lee
University of Pennsylvania ( email )
Philadelphia, PA 19104
United States
Jonathan Bogard
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Anderson School of Management, Students ( email )
Los Angeles, CA
United States
Ilana Brody
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
405 Hilgard Avenue
Box 951361
Los Angeles, CA 90095
United States
Christopher Chabris
Geisinger Health System ( email )
120 Hamm Drive, Suite 2A, MC 60-36
Lewisburg, PA 17837
United States
HOME PAGE: http://www.chabris.com
Edward Chang
University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School, Operations & Information Management Department, Students ( email )
Philadelphia, PA 19104
United States
Gretchen B. Chapman
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey ( email )
311 North 5th Street
New Brunswick, NJ 08854
United States
Jennifer Dannals
Stanford University ( email )
Stanford, CA 94305
United States
Noah J. Goldstein
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - Anderson School of Management ( email )
110 Westwood Plaza
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1481
United States
Amir Goren
Geisinger Health System ( email )
100 North Academy Ave.
Danville, PA 17822-4910
United States
Hal Hershfield
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - Marketing Area ( email )
110 Westwood Plaza
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1481
United States
Alex Hirsch
University of Pennsylvania ( email )
Philadelphia, PA 19104
United States
Jillian Hmurovic

University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School ( email )
3641 Locust Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6365
United States
Samantha Horn
Carnegie Mellon University ( email )
Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890
United States
Dean Karlan
Northwestern University ( email )
2001 Sheridan Road
Evanston, IL 60208
United States
Ariella Kristal
Harvard University ( email )
1875 Cambridge Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States
Cait Lamberton
The Wharton School ( email )
700 Jon M. Huntsman Hall
3730 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA
United States
4127797280 (Phone)
19104 (Fax)
Michelle N. Meyer
Geisinger Health System, Center for Translational Bioethics and Health Care Policy ( email )
100 North Academy Ave.
Danville, PA 17822-4910
United States
HOME PAGE: http://www.michellenmeyer.com
Clarkson University–Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Bioethics Program ( email )
80 Nott Terrace
Schenectady, NY 12308
United States
HOME PAGE: http://www.michellenmeyer.com
Allison Oakes
University of Pennsylvania ( email )
Philadelphia, PA 19104
United States
Maurice E. Schweitzer

University of Pennsylvania - Operations & Information Management Department ( email )
Philadelphia, PA 19104
United States
215-898-4776 (Phone)
215-898-3664 (Fax)
Maheen Shermohammed
Geisinger Health System ( email )
100 North Academy Ave.
Danville, PA 17822-4910
United States
Joachim H. Talloen
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890
United States
Caleb Warren
University of Arizona ( email )
McClelland Hall
P.O. Box 210108
Tucson, AZ 85721-0108
United States
Ashley Whillans
Harvard University
1875 Cambridge Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States
Kuldeep Yadav
University of Pennsylvania ( email )
Philadelphia, PA 19104
United States
Julian Zlatev
Harvard Business School ( email )
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
United States
Ron Berman

University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School ( email )
3641 Locust Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6365
United States
Chalanda Evans
University of Pennsylvania - Perelman School of Medicine ( email )
423 Guardian Drive
Philadelphia, PA 19104
United States
Christopher Snider
University of Pennsylvania - Perelman School of Medicine ( email )
423 Guardian Drive
Philadelphia, PA 19104
United States
Eli Tsukayama
University of Hawaii at West O'ahu ( email )
91-1001 Farrington Highway
Kapolei, HI 96707
United States
Christophe Van den Bulte

University of Pennsylvania - Marketing Department ( email )
700 Jon M. Huntsman Hall
3730 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6340
United States
Kevin Volpp
University of Pennsylvania - Perelman School of Medicine, Department of Medicine ( email )
Philadelphia, PA 19104
United States
Angela Duckworth
University of Pennsylvania - Department of Psychology ( email )
3815 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6196
United States
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