• Public health officials could utilize advertising theory to attain herd immunity to COVID-19, marketing experts believe.
  • Efforts to encourage vaccinations to date take focussed on distribution simply addressing how people think and experience about getting the vaccine could convince skeptics to vaccinate.
  • Community leaders and local health workers tin play a key role in tackling vaccine-related fearfulness and misinformation, while incentives from states, cities and employers could help go skeptics through the door of local vaccination centres.

An estimated 60-seventy% of the world's population needs to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to achieve herd immunity. This makes overcoming COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, procrastination, and rejection the greatest marketing communication claiming of our lifetime.

The United states is moving "from a supply problem to a need problem," as Dr David Kessler, the chief science officeholder for the US government'due south COVID-19 response task force noted before this twelvemonth. Research indicates that other countries including Commonwealth of australia, France, Russia, South Africa, Japan and Federal republic of germany will face similar demand problems once their vaccine production and distribution problems are addressed.

There are just not enough patient-centric solutions to accost vaccine hesitancy, procrastination, and rejection. Our research focuses on creating and implementing such solutions to inform, persuade, and convince customer segments to act, and we believe this kind of approach could also boost COVID-19 vaccine communication efforts.

Patient-centric solutions to vaccine hesitancy

The decision-making process for customers - or in this case patients - is oftentimes understood using the Hierarchy of Effects Framework. It suggests that customers think first, and then experience and then do. In relation to the COVID-19 vaccine, this implies that patients need to get-go "retrieve" about information technology, that is, become aware of and knowledgeable near the vaccine. Next, patients demand to "experience" positively near it, every bit in developing a conviction to become the vaccine. Finally, patients need to "do" it - in other words, get vaccinated.

Nearly policy makers have emphasised the "do" phase by focusing on distribution and convenience via a combination of mass vaccination, hospital, medico, and drug shop sites. This makes sense for the population interested in getting vaccinated. For the vaccine procrastinator, hesitant, and rejector populations, still, we demand to focus on the "think" and "experience" stages of conclusion making. Without these stages, patients are unlikely to movement to the "do" stage.

Click to enlarge

Think-Feel-Do Framework for COVID-19 vaccine communication efforts

A different approach to communicating with vaccine skeptics aims to reduce procrastination and rejection.

Image: Ofer Mintz, University of Technology, Sydney; Imran Currim, University of California Irvine; Rohit Deshpande, Harvard Business School

Using examples from the Us - one country currently facing a greater vaccine demand than supply problem - we have developed three recommendations for how all-time to use this theory to eradicate vaccine hesitancy.

1. Increment knowledge and overcome misinformation

First, we need to focus on the "think" stage by asking why people are hesitating, procrastinating, and rejecting the vaccine. Research shows a major reason is that such patients are likely to believe the invention and approval process of the vaccine was rushed, with underreported side-effects. This tin exist addressed past local leaders proactively reaching out and educating sceptics via media such as phone calls, direct mail, television receiver, billboard, and digital channels.

I rural parish in the The states state of Louisiana, for example, enlisted African-American preachers and local leaders to direct telephone members of their customs. This led to a 9% increase in the parish'due south vaccination rate in a week.

The state of Iowa features a electric current congresswoman who is also an experienced medico in its vaccine ads. This approach frequently appeals to preferences to hear from leaders in their ain political political party with medical expertise, while empowering them to make personal decisions without pressure.

Overcoming COVID-xix vaccine hesitancy, procrastination and rejection is the greatest marketing advice claiming of our lifetime.

—Ofer Mintz, University of Technology, Sydney; Imran Currim, University of California Irvine; Rohit Deshpande, Harvard Business School

More assertive approaches are also needed to overcome vaccine misinformation, in detail on social media. Previous research shows that having medical sources directly refute inaccurate claims online is peculiarly effective. Training and funding is needed to help medical, public health, and non-profit organisations actively answer to misinformation with science-based evidence.

ii. Better feelings

The vaccine-hesitant population has adult strong feelings against it, then using information sources trusted by these people could improve their feelings nigh the vaccine. Research indicates those that are hesitant trust medical providers, political and faith-based leaders to provide "think"-based knowledge about medical decisions, but are more likely to rely on their communities to provide the "experience" or emotion-based conviction for decisions.

One nurse in Louisiana deployed a especially constructive tactic. She called her vaccine-hesitant patients to talk virtually how she had been a vaccine skeptic but changed her mind after her husband passed away due to COVID-xix.

In the Usa state of Oregon, Native American tribes accept seen relatively high vaccination rates. Amid initiatives rolled out by these communities to encourage vaccinations, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians has used direct phone calls, discussions, and social media apps to become family and friends vaccinated.

Another mode to better vaccine sceptics' feelings is to play into a fear of missing out (FOMO), both socially and economically.

3. Facilitate action

Mass vaccination sites are critical to facilitate patients who want to exist vaccinated. Reaching people that are unsure about getting vaccinated, however, will require proactive tactics.

First, incentives can work. Several US states and cities provide cash incentives and gratis transportation, or create lotteries and large block parties to incentivise vaccinations. Businesses should also be encouraged to contribute past providing paid fourth dimension-off, complimentary products and lottery giveaways.

Enhancing the convenience of getting vaccinated is another useful tactic. In business, we phone call this "going to your market" or, in this case, "taking the vaccine to the patients". For example, the Primary Health Network in Pennsylvania, US created a mobile health unit to provide pop-up clinics in rural and underserved areas with larger vaccine-hesitant populations. The Southwest Wellness Arrangement in Colorado created "vaccine swat teams" to reach long-term care facilities and homebound residents who experienced difficulty getting to mass vaccination sites. Such approaches provide proactive micro-vaccination sites tailored for the vaccine-hesitant, procrastinators, and rejectors, in contrast to mass vaccination sites for those eager to get vaccinated.

We believe applying the "call up - experience - do" patient-centered approach to the COVID-19 vaccine communication problem will improve efforts at accelerating global herd immunity. Ensuring a safe economic reopening and recovery and overcoming this pregnant health and economic claiming could depend on such tactics.