Media framing of COVID-19 vaccination in Hong Kong: The role of metaphors and gain/loss frames

Abstract

Previous research has shown that media plays an essential role in shaping public opinion. Human attitudes and behavioral preferences can be affected by media messages presented using different framing strategies. Drawing on research on metaphorical framing and Prospect Theory, this study examines how metaphors and gain/loss frames as two types of framing tools for persuasion were used in the media presentation of the COVID-19 vaccination issues. We conducted a content analysis in a corpus of 945 news articles covering the topic of COVID-19 from Hong Kong Free Press. The corpus spans a period of 20 months, starting from the pandemic outbreak in December 2019 to July 2021, six months since Hong Kong officially launched the vaccination program in February 2021. Metaphors of vaccination and gain/loss-framed messages were identified and discussed.

Results revealed that the vaccination issues were primarily framed by JOURNEY,

COMPETITION, PERSON, BUILDING, and PRODUCT metaphors. Specifically, in the first stage -vaccine development, the media frequently adopted COMPETITION metaphors to describe a global ‘race’ towards developing and manufacturing a vaccine for COVID-19. In the second stage - vaccine production, JOURNEY metaphors were used to talk about the ‘arrival’ and ‘access’ to a vaccine. In the third stage – vaccination promotion, when the vaccination program started in Hong Kong, the media tended to use PERSON metaphors for vaccination promotion by emphasizing the aspects of ‘boosting’ vaccination efficacy and uptake, and also PRODUCT metaphors with emphases on ‘rolling out’ and ‘promoting’ vaccination program. In the fourth stage – vaccination expansion, more BUILDING metaphors were adopted to address the proposal of ‘strengthening’, expanding’, and ‘extending’ the vaccination program in order to increase vaccination coverage in Hong Kong.

Results also showed that the media used more gain-framed messages rather than loss-framed messages when promoting the vaccination program in Hong Kong, aligning with previous studies showing gain-framed messages are more effective in promoting prevention measures, such as vaccination in health communication. Moreover, evidence on the interplay of metaphors and gain/loss frames in the data was found. Further discussion on how the two framing techniques interact in different stages of vaccination to enhance the persuasiveness of vaccine promotion will be conducted. The findings of this study have potential implications on

providing message framing strategies for the media and authorities to guide the public’s decision-making and achieve effective health communication in promoting vaccination against COVID-19. Keywords: Metaphorical framing; Gain/loss framing; Vaccination; Media discourse; Hong Kong