ARISe at UMass Chan (ARISe)

ARISe at UMass Chan: Remote Eye Tracking Study of Vaccine Messaging in Rural Populations

The goal is to identify the most impactful strategies for capturing attention and enhancing effectiveness of vaccine promotion messages. This will be done using an online survey that employs remote eye-tracking and self report measures to evaluate response to sample vaccine promotion social media content in rural populations in New England. Participants will be randomly assigned into one of 14 conditions in a 2(source: expert vs. influencer) by 7 (themes: constructs from 7C Vaccine Framework) experiment and view sample messages and then answer questions about their attitudes and beliefs while being monitored for eye-tracking.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Vaccination; Vaccination Promotion
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Exposure to source and message content

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 700
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Grace W Ryan, PhD, MPH; Phone Number: 508-859-0179; Email: grace.ryan1@umassmed.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • Massachusetts
    • Worcester, Massachusetts, United States, 01605
      • Recruiting
      • University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School
      • Contact: Grace Assistant Professor, PhD, MPH; Phone Number: 508-859-0179; Email: arise@umassmed.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age 18+
• Living in New England state (CT, MA, ME, NH, VT RI) in a zip code as defined by each individual state's definition of rural
• Able to read and write in English
• Access to an internet connected computer or laptop with a web-camera

Exclusion Criteria:

• N/A

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Factorial Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

14

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Arm 1: Peer message, 7C Construct 1; This arm will include messages with a "peer" influence as the source and the construct of "confidence" as the message.	Behavioral: Exposure to source and message content; Within each arm, participants will be exposed to two messages each of which are delivered by the same source (peer or professional) and have message content related to one of the 7C Constructs.
Experimental: Arm 2: Professional source, 7C Construct 1; This arm will include messages with a "professional" influencer as the source and the construct of "confidence" as the message.	Behavioral: Exposure to source and message content; Within each arm, participants will be exposed to two messages each of which are delivered by the same source (peer or professional) and have message content related to one of the 7C Constructs.
Experimental: Arm 3: Peer message, 7C Construct 2; This arm will include messages with a "peer" influence as the source and the construct of "complacency" as the message.	Behavioral: Exposure to source and message content; Within each arm, participants will be exposed to two messages each of which are delivered by the same source (peer or professional) and have message content related to one of the 7C Constructs.
Experimental: Arm 4: Professional message, 7C Construct 2; This arm will include messages with a "professional" influence as the source and the construct of "complacency" as the message.	Behavioral: Exposure to source and message content; Within each arm, participants will be exposed to two messages each of which are delivered by the same source (peer or professional) and have message content related to one of the 7C Constructs.
Experimental: Arm 5: Peer message, 7C Construct 3; This arm will include messages with a "peer" influence as the source and the construct of "constraints" as the message.	Behavioral: Exposure to source and message content; Within each arm, participants will be exposed to two messages each of which are delivered by the same source (peer or professional) and have message content related to one of the 7C Constructs.
Experimental: Arm 6: Professional message, 7C Construct 3; This arm will include messages with a "professional" influencer as the source and the construct of "constraints" as the message.	Behavioral: Exposure to source and message content; Within each arm, participants will be exposed to two messages each of which are delivered by the same source (peer or professional) and have message content related to one of the 7C Constructs.
Experimental: Arm 7: Peer message, 7C Construct 4; This arm will include messages with a "peer" influencer as the source and the construct of "calculation" as the message.	Behavioral: Exposure to source and message content; Within each arm, participants will be exposed to two messages each of which are delivered by the same source (peer or professional) and have message content related to one of the 7C Constructs.
Experimental: Arm 8: Professional message, 7C Construct 4; This arm will include messages with a "professional" influencer as the source and the construct of "calculation" as the message.	Behavioral: Exposure to source and message content; Within each arm, participants will be exposed to two messages each of which are delivered by the same source (peer or professional) and have message content related to one of the 7C Constructs.
Experimental: Arm 9: Peer message, 7C Construct 5; This arm will include messages with a "peer" influencer as the source and the construct of "collective responsibility" as the message.	Behavioral: Exposure to source and message content; Within each arm, participants will be exposed to two messages each of which are delivered by the same source (peer or professional) and have message content related to one of the 7C Constructs.
Experimental: Arm 10: Professional message, 7C Construct 5; This arm will include messages with a "professional" influencer as the source and the construct of "collective responsibility" as the message.	Behavioral: Exposure to source and message content; Within each arm, participants will be exposed to two messages each of which are delivered by the same source (peer or professional) and have message content related to one of the 7C Constructs.
Experimental: Arm 11: Peer message; 7C Construct 6; This arm will include messages with a "peer" influencer as the source and the construct of "compliance" as the message.	Behavioral: Exposure to source and message content; Within each arm, participants will be exposed to two messages each of which are delivered by the same source (peer or professional) and have message content related to one of the 7C Constructs.
Experimental: Arm 12: Professional message, 7C Construct 6; This arm will include messages with a "professional" influencer as the source and the construct of "compliance" as the message.	Behavioral: Exposure to source and message content; Within each arm, participants will be exposed to two messages each of which are delivered by the same source (peer or professional) and have message content related to one of the 7C Constructs.
Experimental: Arm 13: Peer message, 7C Construct 7; This arm will include messages with a "peer" influencer as the source and the construct of "conspiracy" as the message.	Behavioral: Exposure to source and message content; Within each arm, participants will be exposed to two messages each of which are delivered by the same source (peer or professional) and have message content related to one of the 7C Constructs.
Experimental: Arm 14: Professional message, 7C Construct 7; This arm will include messages with a "professional" influencer as the source and the construct of "conspiracy" as the message.	Behavioral: Exposure to source and message content; Within each arm, participants will be exposed to two messages each of which are delivered by the same source (peer or professional) and have message content related to one of the 7C Constructs.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Source credibility	Participants' perception of the credibility of the message source will be assessed using a 7-point Likert scale measured across four items. Participants will be asked to rate the following four items on this scale: To what extent do you believe the source of the message to be… (1=not at all, 7=very much so); Fair; Accurate; Telling the whole story; Trustworthy Unit of measure: Scale score 1-7, mean	Immediately after viewing each message
Perceived Message Effectiveness	Perceived message effectiveness will be measured using six items (worth remembering, grabs attention, powerful, informative, meaningful, convincing), each rated on a 7-point Likert scale. The outcome will be the mean of these six ratings for each participant, then averaged by experimental condition. To what extent is… (1=not at all, 7=very much so); The message worth remembering; The message grabs attention; This message powerful; This message informative; This message meaningful; This message convincing Unit of Measure: Scale score (1-7, mean across items)	Immediately after viewing each message
Visual attention	Visual attention, quantified as mean dwell time in milliseconds, will be measured using remote eye-tracking while participants view vaccine promotion messages. Dwell time will be calculated for pre-specified Areas of Interest (AOIs) during the message viewing period. Higher dwell times indicate greater visual attention to the AOIs. Unit of measure: mean dwell time in milliseconds per message	During message viewing ( immediately post-randomization, prior to completion of post-message survey)
Message reactance	Reactance will be assessed using four items (irritated, angry, annoyed, aggravated), rated 0 ("None of this feeling") to 4 ("A great deal of this feeling"). The mean reactance score will be calculated for each participant. How much did this message make you feel the following way? Response options: 0 (None of this feeling) to 4 (A great deal of this feeling).; Irritated; Angry; Annoyed; Aggravated Unit of Measure: Scale score (0-4, mean across items)	Immediately after viewing each message
Information sharing intentions	Description: Assessed with 6 items regarding interpersonal and online sharing, rated 1 (Strongly disagree) to 5 (Strongly agree). The mean score across items will be reported per participant and per condition. Rate with the following statements on a scale from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 5 (Strongly agree). Interpersonal setting; I would be willing to share this information with others.; I would talk with others about this message.; I would point others in a direction where they could read this message.Online setting; I would be willing to post a link to this information on my social media.; I would like a social media post with this information.; I would share a social media post with this information. Unit of Measure: Scale score (1-5, mean across items)	Immediately after viewing each message

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Vaccine perceptions	Vaccine perceptions will be measured using an 8-item scale, administered pre- and post-message exposure. Items are rated from 1 (Strongly disagree/very negative) to 7 (Strongly agree/very positive). Higher scores indicate more positive vaccine perceptions. The outcome will be the mean change in score from pre- to post-exposure. Unit of Measure: Scale score (1-7, mean change)	Assessed at baseline (prior to message exposure) and immediately post-intervention (after message exposure)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Massachusetts, Worcester
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Grace W Ryan, PhD, MPH, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): December 1, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): May 30, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): September 30, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 1, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 17, 2025
• First Posted (Estimated): November 19, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): December 22, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 18, 2025
• Last Verified: December 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Vaccination; Immunization; Message perceptions
• Other Study ID Numbers: STUDY00002075; 1U48DP006883-01 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: Per the data management plan, datasets and codebooks will be provided to individual researchers upon reasonable request.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No