Messaging the COVID-19 Vaccine
Declining trust in institutions, the rapidly changing reality of the Coronavirus pandemic and gaps in leadership nationally have created a set of unique communication and messaging challenges for leaders. As vaccines begin to roll out nationwide, leaders face a new messaging challenge — convincing the public to get vaccinated.
The nature of a pandemic means that conditions on the ground change minute-to-minute. Messaging from leaders during the pandemic has varied widely, particularly in the early days. Of concern was mixed national messaging about the severity of and response to the pandemic. Inconsistencies create uncertainty and can erode confidence, making it that much more difficult to marshal the public to take action.
The same holds true as vaccines become available for more Americans. A mix of expectations, facts, figures and unhelpful branding — Operation Warp Speed for example — have created potential barriers to widespread enough adoption, especially in communities that have experienced the worst impacts of the pandemic.
Not all messengers have the same impact and it's not always intuitive who's voice will work best. Vaccine-hesitant populations are not monolithic. Messaging needs to be specifically tailored to build trust in target audiences. The first step is selecting the right messenger. It’s not just about what is being said, it’s also about who is saying it.
Among vaccine-hesitant populations, medical experts and doctors are effective messengers, especially those that are representative of the communities they serve, followed by friends, family, neighbors and community leaders. While they don’t have a negative impact, celebrity and influencer voices are not as potent.
The internet is awash in misinformation. Vaccines aren't immune. Investing in a multi-channel strategy is key. There is no singular medium where people are getting information about vaccines. Information varies widely across television news, social media and offline conversations with family and friends. To be successful, leaders will have to communicate across channels to build trust and dispel misinformation.
People have different motivations and hesitations. Understanding where the roadblocks are will help assuage concerns. Messaging should focus on removing roadblocks and focusing on the benefits of vaccines for vaccine-hesitant populations and not pushing back directly on misconceptions. As more and different types of COVID-19 vaccines come to market and more research is released on efficacy against new strains, the communications environment will become more complex. With more complexity comes uncertainty.
Personal stories from trusted messengers are a useful vehicle for persuasion. Focusing on “protecting the ones you love”, “beginning to get life back to normal”, or “saving lives”, by getting a “safe and effective vaccine”, is more effective than leading with facts and figures alone.
Messaging should avoid language that pushes vaccine-hesitant audiences or communicates a lack of empathy for concerns. Language like “you must get a vaccine,” “you should get a vaccine”, “you are wrong about the vaccine”, “you have a responsibility to get a vaccine”, is counter-productive and likely to further galvanize hesitancy.
When speaking about the development of COVID-19 vaccines, it is critical to emphasize the extensive research that went into developing the vaccines and the thorough review process by doctors and medical experts through which the vaccines received FDA authorization. Messaging should avoid focusing on the speed of vaccine development. As noted above, language like “Warp Speed” elicits concerns that the process was rushed or that corners were cut.
Finally, providing an intermediate action for those who are hesitant is useful. Actually getting the vaccine is too big an initial step, but a significant number of the most hesitant people are open to having a conversation with their doctor or a medical expert about the vaccine. Providing opportunities for vaccine-hesitant populations to take intermediate steps is crucial.
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The above insights were drawn from a survey of 1,000 New Jersey residents. The survey was conducted using an online panel February 1–5 with a margin of error of +/-3% at a confidence level of 95%.