Good (i.e., effective) communication is a necessary but usually only partially sufficient condition for achieving desired behaviors.
“Recipe” for Fostering Public Interest and High Vaccine Demand:
– Medical experts and public health authorities publicly (e.g., via media) state concern and alarm (and predict dire outcomes) and urge influenza vaccination.
– Framing of the flu season in terms that motivate behavior (e.g., as “very severe”, “more severe than last or past years”, “deadly”)
– Continued reports (e.g., from health officials and media) that influenza is causing severe illness and/or affecting lots of people helping foster the perception that many people are susceptible to a bad case of influenza.
– Visible/tangible examples of the seriousness of the illness (e.g., pictures of children, families of those affected coming forward) and people getting vaccinated (the first to motivate, the latter to reinforce)
Implications of the “Recipe“:
Fostering demand, particularly among people who don’t routinely receive an annual influenza vaccination, requires creating concern, anxiety, and worry.
For example:
– A perception or sense that many people are falling ill;
– A perception or sense that many people are experiencing bad illness;
– A perception or sense of vulnerability to contracting and experiencing bad illness.