Testing Multiple Behavioral Science Strategies to Increase Flu-Shot Rates at a Large Retail Pharmacy
Testing Multiple Behavioral Science Strategies to Increase Flu-Shot Rates at a Large Retail Pharmacy
This research aims to identify which behavioral science strategies are most effective at
 increasing flu vaccination rates overall and based on patients' individual characteristics.
 Past behavioral science interventions have shown promise in increasing flu vaccinations. For
 example, successful interventions have encouraged people to make concrete plans for when they
 will get a flu vaccination, sent automated calls or text messages reminding patients to get a
 flu vaccination , or provided financial incentives for getting vaccinated. Although these
 results are promising, these studies have been conducted in isolation on different
 populations, which makes it difficult to compare their interventions' effectiveness or to
 have enough power to reliably detect differing responses to interventions based on individual
 characteristics.

 This research will simultaneously test 22 different SMS interventions to increase flu
 vaccinations compared to a holdout control condition in a "mega-study" and apply machine
 learning to identify which interventions work best for whom. The interventions are designed
 by behavioral science experts from the Behavior Change for Good Initiative (BCFG), Penn
 Medicine Nudge Unit (PMNU), and Geisinger Behavioral Insights Team (BIT). Customers of a
 large retail pharmacy who received a flu shot from the pharmacy last year and receive SMS
 notifications will be included in this study. We expect this to include approximately 1.2
 million participants.

 The specific aims of this research are to identify (1) which behavioral science strategies
 effectively increase flu vaccination rates overall, and (2) which strategies are most
 effective for different subgroups (e.g., based on age, gender, race).
Inclusion Criteria:

 1. Have agreed to receive SMS messages from the pharmacy

 2. Received a flu shot from the pharmacy in the 2019-2020 flu season, as documented in
 their pharmacy records.

 Exclusion Criteria:

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