Marketing Healthcare: The Case of Parental Vaccine Hesitancy
(A2026-134219)

AUTHORS

Adina Robinson, University of New England; Ajay Kohli, Georgia Tech

ABSTRACT

We conceptualize parents as “customers” and examine their needs to explain their vaccine hesitancy. Drawing on 229 in-depth conversations with a census of vaccine-hesitant parents in a US county, we find that vaccine hesitancy most commonly arises after close encounters with traumatic illnesses such as asthma, autism, and ADHD. These encounters trigger a loss of meaning for parents—doubts about the world’s orderliness and their worthiness as parents. The emotional need to restore meaning leads some parents to accept that vaccines cause traumatic illnesses, which restores a sense of orderliness and results in vaccine hesitancy. Other parents remain skeptical of a causal link, yet resort to vaccine hesitancy to restore a sense of meaning as worthy parents. A novel two-step intervention based on these insights shows promising results in a small study-within-a-study. We contribute to a richer understanding of vaccine hesitancy and offer guidance for marketing healthcare.