Vaccine Marketing - Innovation and Marketing in the Pharmaceutical Industry - page 404

is claimed to have been “manufactured” by vaccine suppliers and allied players, and
the increased use of anti-vaccine testimonials by “experts” (e.g., unidentifi ed doctors).
Anti-vaccination information increases the perceived risk and lowers vaccination
intentions (Betsch et al. 2010 ), particularly when the information consists of highly
emotional narratives (testimonials, anecdotes) (Betsch et al. 2011 ).
The traditional strategy of fi ghting anti-vaccination information with education
and evidence-based communication is considered to have been ineffective (Parikh
2008 ; Reyna 2012 ; MacDonald et al. 2012 ; Caplan 2011 ). Alternative proposed
strategies include emphasizing “simple bottom-line meaning” instead of facts and
details (Reyna 2012 ), stressing the obligation to act as a moral member of a com-
munity (Caplan 2011 ), including more emotionally compelling content (Bean 2011 ),
for example, by having a parent tell a story of how their child died from a disease
which could have been prevented by vaccination (Parikh 2008 ), enhancing the
knowledge of the vaccine safety system (MacDonald et al. 2012 ), and increasing
the engagement of health professionals and other vaccination advocates in online
discussion forums (Nicholson and Leask 2012 ).
Marketing scholars can contribute to the development of effective strategies for
combating anti-vaccination information by extending research on anti-rumor and
brand-scandal strategies (e.g., Tybout et al. 1981 ; Roehm and Tybout 2006 ), message
framing strategies that mobilize social motivations (e.g., Zhao and Pechmann 2007 ),
and consumer persuasion knowledge models (Campbell and Kirmani 2008 ) which
might help fi ght conspiracy theories, among others.

13.7.4 Other Consumer Behavior Research Questions

Consumer belief - behavior causality . Most studies about vaccination perceptions and
behavior are cross-sectional. Because of this, the direction of causality—do the beliefs
cause vaccination behavior or does causality fl ow in the other direction?—is not clear
(Weinstein 2007 ). Longitudinal studies (e.g., Ibuka et al. 2010 ) could clarify causality.
Funk et al. ( 2010 ) also stress the need for empirical parameterization of the many
mathematical models of infectious disease-vaccination dynamics and discuss poten-
tial technologies for collecting longitudinal data.

Vaccine fatigue . A number of new vaccines for new markets are expected to be
launched over the coming years. According to Humiston et al. ( 2009 ) physicians
feel that, faced with an increasing number of recommended vaccines, parents are
exhibiting “vaccine fatigue.” Kennedy et al. ( 2011a ) found converging results. 41
Unless vaccine marketers fi nd ways to overcome this vaccine fatigue, the success of
future new vaccine launches will be compromised.

41 27.8 % of parents agreed that “children get too many vaccines during the fi rst 2 years of life,” and
21.9 % of them strongly/somewhat agreed with the statement “I am concerned that my child's
immune system could be weakened by too many vaccines.”