Marketing the Vaccine
When I found out that there would not be a vaccine mandate in place when I came back to University of Pittsburgh this fall, I was in utter shock. An email from the university listed reasons vaccination against coronavirus was recommended; however, sitting at the bottom of the block of text, almost hidden was:
“The University currently does not have plans to require vaccination to be on our campuses.”
As I showed the email to my friends, they remarked that their Virginia universities, including University of Virginia, William & Mary, VCU, and George Mason, had all taken the firm stance that vaccination was required to operate in-person. I questioned how my school, the one that is famously credited for developing the Polio vaccine, the one with the state-of-the-art medical program, the one surrounded by hospitals, could respond so ineptly to this public health crisis? It didn’t make sense.
Months later, Pitt reversed this decision and has since announced that vaccines will be mandated for the spring semester. However, their original course of action is still alarming and it is worth discussing the implications.
In lieu of a vaccine mandate in the fall semester, Pitt had decided to implement an incentive for those who reported that they were vaccinated. Prizes such as gift certificates to the university store and dining dollars would be drawn lottery-style; surely this isn’t a strong enough lure to change the mind of someone who is adamant about not getting vaccinated. Even the grand prize of $1 million offered by the vaccine lotteries in Ohio and Colorado didn’t prove to be effective.
One possible explanation is the crowding out effect, which says that creating extrinsic motivation for a behavior often diminishes any intrinsic motivation; in other words, monetary incentives undermine any moral or societal motivations to take action. In the long term this may cause people to rely on these monetary rewards. Behavioral Economist Dr. Kevin Volpp cautions “With all of these incentives to get the vaccine now, we may be priming the pump for people to expect these rewards in the future.”
Despite this warning, Dr. Volpp does believe that lotteries could be an effective tactic in raising vaccination rates. He points to behavioral research that suggests people tend to focus more on the magnitude of a reward than the probability of receiving it. So, while a vaccinated Pitt student may have a better chance of winning the school’s lottery than an Ohio resident has of winning that state’s lottery, the prize offerings of dining dollars and bookstore stipends are nowhere near as enticing as a million dollars.
Regardless of the decision to implement a lottery, Pitt’s stance this summer seemed to straddle the fence. School officials were speaking highly of the vaccine but have forgone a mandate, accommodating students who are part of the 20% of Americans who do not want to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Enabling people to remain unvaccinated is just one example of the greatest issue with the rollout of the vaccine — a lack of strong incentive. Even though mandates are beginning to be put in place by employers and the government, our country is still lacking an unanimous moral desire to get vaccinated, for the sake of public health.
The U.S. is fortunate enough to have had vaccines quickly developed and largely available. At this point in the pandemic, it seems the only remaining factor in reaching mass vaccination is human behavior. So, how can we influence that behavior?
Anti-vaxxers as a target market segment
In order to “sell” unvaccinated Americans on the vaccine, it’s important to understand the group as a target market segment. It seems they are a main target for anti-vaccine advocates on social media, who sell natural medicine, books, workshops, and more. According to the Center for Countering Digital Hate, “147 key anti-vaccination accounts have managed to grow their followings by at least 25% since the start of the pandemic.” These business models rely on spreading fear, conspiracies, and misinformation, but unfortunately they are effective. Countering these anti-vaccination groups will require a concerted and targeted marketing effort in favor of vaccination.
A targeted approach is exactly what The Ad Council used when they launched the ‘It’s Up to You’ campaign. Months of consumer research revealed that 1 in 3 Americans would probably or definitely not get the vaccine. Black and Hispanic Americans were even less likely to get vaccinated. The Ad Council’s research revealed four key areas that explain why these groups felt hesitant: concerns about safety and side effects, speed of the vaccine’s development, distrust in political motives of the government, and conspiracy theories involving vaccines. The latter two reasons varied by race/ethnicity and political affiliation. Using these insights, researchers tested messaging strategies to see what would resonate across target audiences and what would be rejected.
First, according to The Ad Council, messages “encouraging Americans to be vaccinated because it’s ‘the right thing to do,’ were rejected as pushy or accusatory in surveyed groups.” People feel threatened when their morals are put into question and do not want to believe that they are doing the ‘wrong thing.’ Another unsuccessful message was the analogy of vaccine availability ‘flipping the switch’ to imply that life will quickly get back to normal. This message didn’t seem to work because most understand that mass vaccination is a long process and that post-pandemic life might not look like pre-pandemic life.
The Ad Council found that messages from doctors, health workers, and virus survivors were more well-received than those from celebrities and political figures. Perhaps this is because these people would have more proximity to the virus whereas celebrities and political figures appear more detached. Another possible explanation is that celebrities and politicians could have hidden motives in what they endorse. No matter the reason, the Ad Council concluded that reliable sources did improve a message’s efficacy.
Finally, messages that acknowledged the uncertainty of getting vaccinated while emphasizing the value (such as the ability to be social again and protection for yourself and loved ones) were received well. This was because there was a common thread found amongst different demographic groups and amongst the four main reasons for hesitancy: the feeling of concerns not being heard and addressed. Therefore, the ‘It’s Up to You’ campaign has positioned itself as empathetic, with the goal of addressing and resolving concerns rather than invalidating them.
Other effective marketing tactics
With survival odds, infection rates, and death tolls being constantly broadcasted, we have become desensitized to these scary stats. Research has found that empirical information like this does not evoke a strong emotional reaction. In fact, one study found that factual information can be persuasive to some, but actually cause resistance in others. With this in mind, education may not necessarily be the best way to convince the unvaccinated. Instead of raw data and statistics, it’s important to remember people love a good narrative. Stories evoke emotions, let us make connections, reveal patterns, and bring comfort to our lives. Incorporating storytelling into the marketing of the Covid vaccine will be key in changing the minds of those who aren’t swayed by facts.
Storytelling works by creating an emotional response from the audience. Stories touching on positive emotions can drive behavior, but fear tactics often don’t work, especially in health care. It may seem logical to want to scare people into getting vaccinated, especially when stress and anxiety have been fairly universal feelings during the pandemic. However, this poses a risk of your audience being too paralyzed with fear to take action.
The Extended Parallel Processing Model says messages that spark fear lead to ‘protection motivation’ causing one to accept the message, but if the fear is excessive it can lead to ‘defensive motivation’ causing one to reject the message. In one classic study, researchers elicited fear by showing participants shocking illustrations of the effects of tetanus. While this did increase intentions to get vaccinated against tetanus, it did not affect actual vaccine uptake. In essence, fear appeals only work if they successfully raise a certain level of concern and include a call to action.
Finally, experts warn against ostracizing your target market. Messages must be empathetic of the target’s inner motivations and attitudes. “Don’t frame this as an either/or decision — either for the vaccine or against. For people who are vaccine hesitant, don’t label them as the bad guys, or as irrational,” says Stacy Woods, a marketing professor at North Carolina State University. An example of an empathetic message is Google’s ‘Get Back to What You Love’ commercial:
This Google ad quickly went viral. Tactics like keeping a positive tone, utilizing storytelling to create hope, and avoiding any negative talk about anti-vaxxers were key.
So where does this leave us?
Pitt’s new decision to require the vaccination of students and faculty may be too little too late. Students not vaccinated will not be able to enroll in spring term classes or live in residence halls. However, according to a campus wide email exemptions will be granted for those with medical reasons or “reasons based on sincerely held religious belief or because of a strong moral or ethical conviction.” So is this mandate really a mandate? As discussed earlier, a lottery is only as strong as its potential for reward. In a similar vein, mandates are only as strong as their potential for punishment, or in this case, as strong as they are enforced. With exceptions and loopholes, only time will tell whether the new mandate is effective in increasing vaccination rates among the remaining unvaccinated Pitt community.
As we look to increase our vaccination rate within our local communities and our country as a whole, we need to be sure we are incentivizing and communicating around vaccination effectively. External motivators like monetary rewards are not particularly effective. Even though they may seem enticing, the reality is that they are not moving the needle. Communications around getting vaccinated need to take concerns about the vaccine seriously and work to show empathy towards those who are unvaccinated. While the discourse around vaccination remains divisive and politicized, marketing and psychology remind us that people are people. As we continue our discussion with our friends, families, or even universities, persuasion through storytelling, respect, and empathy should be the path forward.
Madelyn Decker is an intern at Olson Zaltman
