H1N1 Vaccine: A Generation Gap?

by Anne Mai Bertelsen, Nov 9, 2009, 12:15 PM

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In the 1960s, teenage Boomers rebelled against their parents' politics, music and lifestyles. Today, there seems to be a generational divide on vaccines -- particularly on H1N1, which health officials have cautioned could afflict 40% of the U.S. population over the next two years without widespread immunization.

Polls released in October by various news organizations including CBS News, ABC News/Washington Post, The Associated Press, and Consumer Reports found large majorities of parents, particularly those under the age of 44, planning on foregoing the H1N1 vaccination for their children, citing concerns about the vaccine's safety. Boomer parents and non-parents, on the other hand, were less likely to question the safety of the vaccine and plan on being vaccinated when it becomes available to them.

The poll results are being corroborated by actual behavior. Two weeks ago, New York City began vaccinating elementary school children against the H1N1 virus. The vaccine is optional but free; parents need only provide permission. Citywide, according to The New York Times, less than half of the eligible parents are giving the schools' permission to inoculate their children. In at least one school, only 5% of parents opted in. And, this trend is not unique to New York City. School officials across the country are reporting low participation rates for the H1N1 vaccine.

The same week that New York City officials were trying to convince young parents to inoculate their children, officials in Los Angeles County and Chicago were urging Boomers and their parents to forego the vaccine for now; to allow the limited supplies to go to the highest risk groups first: children, pregnant women, and people with compromised immune systems.

This generational divide on vaccines reflects the first-hand experiences of both the Boomers and their younger generational siblings. Boomers were the first generation to participate in school-wide immunization in the 1950s against polio, a disease that struck 16,000 Americans annually before vaccines were made widely available.

They were also the generation to have survived a rubella outbreak in 1964-65 that developmentally afflicted tens of thousands of Americans, including 20,000 infants born to women who contracted rubella during their pregnancies. These infants suffered from developmental disabilities.

They were also the generation who heard stories from their parents and grandparents about diseases like tuberculosis, measles, diphtheria and small pox claiming the lives of their relatives and friends -- diseases that they were now fortunate enough to be vaccinated against. To Boomers, vaccines offered protection from deadly, tangible diseases.

Parents born after 1970, though, have a different first-hand experience. They are the first generation to have grown up with the luxury of protection, unexposed to these deadly childhood diseases. They have grown up during a time of tremendous medical and scientific advances where we can predict and control public health outbreaks before they can reach pandemic status.

But, this generational divide has also exposed a marketing misstep that has broader implications for all marketers. Public health officials neglected to take these different generational experiences into consideration when developing their marketing communication efforts. Had they done so, they might have been more effective in encouraging younger parents to inoculate their children.

It's a lesson all marketers should heed -- whether they are marketing health care, financial services or consumer products. Generational first-hand experiences drive attitudes, beliefs and purchase decisions.

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0 comments on "H1N1 Vaccine: A Generation Gap? ".

1. Ramaswamy Ramasubbu from bitswoven technologies pvt ltd
   

   commented on: November 9, 2009 at 1:13 p.m.

   Hi Anne

   I think you are bang on target that first hand experiences drive attitudes - it is also based on what you grow up with -In India most of us grew up with middle class value system and generally ( and many times) blindly chose that better education is the only salvation in life and i keep watching decisions made by me or my socially equivalent groups and see that the early stage frugality is stuck into our psyche and we can't shake it off- i always pity the marketers who come with such brilliant ads - alas they dont touch our heart or strike a chord many atime as there isa misstep in communicating to our belief/value system

   Ram

2. Wendy Mcgrath from JSH & A Public Relations
   

   commented on: November 9, 2009 at 2:02 p.m.

   Your article pretty much echoed the arguements currently going on in my household. At 68 I'm all for getting the H1N1 vaccination, while my daughter, 36 has chosen to pass for herself and her 2 1/2 year old son. Until I read your article I thought she was being a 1st class fool and she thought I was being a trusting lemming. I'll pass it on to her and hope she will reconsider her decision in light of your insight.

3. Paula Lynn from Who Else Unlimited
   

   commented on: November 9, 2009 at 2:18 p.m.

   When parents start experiencing the deaths of their children due to their whining, let along breaking their futures with the medical costs attached to healing their sick kids, then adding their kids contagion to others inflicting pain, maybe they will appreciate the opportunity to have a vaccine. Very, very sad state of affairs when only a slap in the face wakes people up.

4. L D from Discovery
   

   commented on: November 9, 2009 at 3:59 p.m.

   I'm not sure you can draw a comparison between polio and h1n1. seems a weak argument to me. i agree that marketing wasn't strategic for the vaccine, however, i'm not sure if that's a bad thing.

5. Anne mai Bertelsen from MAi Strategies
   

   commented on: November 9, 2009 at 4:57 p.m.

   Thanks for these comments. You might want to read today's New York Times in addition. Dr. Perri Klass shares insights about the polio vaccine from David Oshinsky whose won a Pulitzer prize for his work Polio: An American Story. I really didn't know she was going to write this when I wrote my piece. Here's the link. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/10/health/10klas.html

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