NCSU Marketing Professor Says We Are Missing A Target Audience For Vaccination

RALEIGH, North Carolina (WTVD) – Some Americans refuse to be vaccinated while others hesitate but might be convinced by the right information and the right approach.

A professor at North Carolina State University has a theory that there is a third group that is not on either side, they are just apathetic about the vaccine.

She co-wrote an article in JAMA, the Journal of American Medicine, which argues that there are ways to reach this group that could finally move to herd immunity.

But marketing professor Stacy Wood thinks we’re not listening to the right experts when they say, “The COVID vaccination is the most important new product launch we’ve had in our lifetimes. And so in marketing, we know a lot about how to introduce and persuade people to try new things. “

RELATED: How Marketing Could Convince Some People To Buy COVID-19 Vaccine

Wood says we’ve heard a lot about those who are reluctant to get the vaccine, how to address their concerns and perhaps get them to get the vaccine.

However, she and others believe that there are some who are not necessarily averse to getting the vaccine but for various reasons may not have it high on their priority list.

And Raleigh resident John Johnson is one of them.

At a Wake County vaccination clinic this week, he told ABC 11, “I wanted to get it, but I just put it off. But, you know, I knew I wanted to get it eventually. . “

Johnson got the shot this week just because he finally took the time.

“I was around and pushed that back,†he said, “and I started researching where I could get one and saw the signs and thought that I would stop while I have the day off. “

In the JAMA article, Wood and the doctor who was his co-author refer to people like Johnson as vaccine apathy.

They estimate that the group represents up to 15% of the population, may be the easiest group to convince to get vaccinated, and could make a huge difference in meeting the vaccination goal.

“We’re almost about 60% of adults in the United States fully vaccinated. And so an additional 10 or 15% would bring us much closer to herd immunity,†Wood said.

She added that there is a marketing theory on how to approach the apathetic or what is called a low engagement consumer.

“For less involved consumers, getting attention, keeping messages short, sweet, simple,†said Wood. “They can be humorous, they can involve highly regarded celebrities, but the idea is not to try to exaggerate it with statistics, expert opinions, a lot of data. That’s the type of thing. that keep apathetic or uninvolved consumers away from the vaccine. “

And once you’ve hit them across all the different platforms and across a cross section of media, then you should put immunization clinics right in front of them, according to Wood who added, “Then follow up with pop clinics. up for vaccination during baseball games. , at the airport, wherever people are already. So that they, so that they have a chance to get the vaccine, just when they see this message and they think, “Oh, that’s right. I should probably do that.”

With this combined approach, she said, we’re much more likely to see apathetic vaccines join the ranks of the vaccinated and perhaps move to the brink of herd immunity.