‘Free jabs?’ Ouch, no thanks. ‘Your vaccination is reserved for you?’ Yes, please
Loss aversion is the most effective strategy to encourage vaccination, behavioural linguistics shows
Would you get vaccinated for 365 Krispy Kreme doughnuts? What about a free bag of weed? When most countries of the global north started their vaccination drives and hoarding, one key question was on everyone’s mind: how can we encourage people to get their shot?
What this meant for early vaccine rollouts were nudges (and incentives) to encourage this adoption. Pharmacies in the US gave out free cups of coffee, while Israeli bars offered free drinks (plus pizza in the vaccine queues). Doughnut company Krispy Kreme pledged a doughnut-a-day to anyone who got vaccinated, and in Moscow you got free ice-cream. Yankee Stadium — converted into a mass vaccination site — handed out limited-edition baseball trinkets, and some restaurants in Dubai even took 30% off your dinner bill if you showed proof of vaccination...
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