A health marketing campaign to increase flu vaccination rates in Seattle

¶ … Marketing Strategy/Information Campaign for the Flu Shots

Who should get the flu shot? You should!

This proposed health marketing campaign is designed to encourage all residents in the city of Seattle to get flu shots. According to the Centers for Disease Control, some of the reasons that people do not get the flu shot are as follows: a lack of knowledge of the shot's availability, a lack of knowledge of the risks of the flu, and misperceptions of the risk of their age demographic. There is also a great deal of fear surrounding the shots, partially due to a fear of vaccinations in general, but also because of specific fears that the flu shot is ineffective/makes the individual ill.

Raising awareness about availability

Seniors, pregnant women, and young children are deemed high-priority targets of the campaign. Advertising the flu shot's availability at senior centers, daycare centers, obstetrician's offices, and public and private schools is important. These are areas which high-risk individuals may frequent. More general places such as libraries, pharmacies, grocery stores, and community centers should also have information about where to get vaccinated, as well as information about its cost and possible insurance coverage.

For younger people and younger parents, the Internet may be a more viable place to publicize the shot. Additionally, online it is easier to 'link' to informational sites about why getting the flu shot is so important, such as the Centers for Disease Control website.

Persuasive techniques

Various types of persuasive motivations should be emphasized, across all the types of media used in the campaign. Older individuals may be motivated to get vaccinated because of a fear for their more fragile health -- but also because they do not want to put their grandchildren at risk. Older people may also be motivated by a sense of civic purpose, so as not to spread the disease. So might healthcare workers and teachers, both of whom are in contact with high-risk members of the public on a frequent basis. From a self-interested perspective they may wish to obtain the vaccine, but also from a sense of obligation to the health of those whom they serve.

Parents can be encouraged to get the vaccine when their children receive the shot. Parents who might otherwise not get the shot may be more likely to obey public health directives, disseminated through the schools and get the shot for their child, to protect the child's health. Parents are a captive audience when they get their children vaccinated. Individuals who give the flu shot should be encouraged to use the opportunity to give information to caregivers as well as the recipients of the shot, and if possible all flu shot clinics should have extra medication, in case additional individuals elect to get the vaccine.

Reference

Questions and Answers: Seasonal Flu Shot. (2010). Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

Retrieved October 28, 2010 at http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/flushot.htm