In a new Harris Poll/Adweek survey, 60% of respondents said it’s an obligation
As Covid-19 vaccines become more available across the U.S., brands are faced with an important decision: should they encourage their customers to get it or stay silent on the subject?
Central to that question, of course, is whether consumers want to hear that kind of thing from the brands they support. With that in mind, Adweek partnered with The Harris Poll to survey 1,100 Americans about whether brands should chime in on the conversation around vaccinations.
- Consumers want brands to speak up: (60%) agreed brands have an “obligation” to encourage people to get vaccinated, while (70%) said they support brands sharing factual information about how and where to get vaccines.
- In addition, (62%) believe brands have an obligation to go beyond information dissemination itself to dispel myths around COVID-19 vaccines.
- The donut does help: (70%) of consumers think brand rewards like Krispy Kreme’s could work to encourage more vaccinations. And it does not just shot: 60% of respondents said they’d be more likely to buy from a brand that offers promotions to encourage vaccinations.
- Boomer Opportunity: While a majority (58%) said they trust brands more than they trust social media when it comes to vaccination information, there is a wide generational divide: (73%) of Boomers said they trust brands over social media, compared to (63%) of Gen X, (44%) of Millennials and (37%) of Gen Z.
Takeaway: Using brand equity to build confidence in the vaccines could be a brand-building opportunity: (42%) said a brand sharing information about vaccinations would bolster their views of the brand, while (43%) said it wouldn’t affect their opinion and just (15%) said it would lower their opinion.