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US health agencies are testing different marketing messages to convince the maximum number of people to have a COVID-19 vaccination when it becomes available.
A research team from Yale University has recruited 4,000 volunteers who will be given a range of marketing messages. The most effective is likely to be rolled out in national campaigns when a vaccine is launched.
The standard message that vaccines are safe and effective will be tested against other marketing messages, such as how the virus is restricting personal freedom or limiting the way people can earn a living or the benefits to the wider social good.
One message, called 'social pressure-anger', asks the participants to imagine how they would feel if they don't get vaccinated and spread the disease to their family and local community. Another, called 'trust in science', suggests that people who don't get vaccinated don't understand how viruses spread and ignore science.
The final message, 'not bravery', suggests that people who refuse the vaccine aren't brave compared to frontline responders, such as doctors and firefighters.
