I live in the province of Ontario (in Canada). A month ago the province started to rollout the vaccination program for the H1N1 flu. At this time Canada did not have adequate supplies of the vaccine. As a result the vaccine was only provided to people who fell in the High Risk Group category. The High Risk Group category included children under the age of 5, people with underlying medical conditions, pregnant women and seniors. When the vaccination program started there weren’t too many clinics. Only a handful of clinics operated in the Toronto area. During this time the demand for the vaccine was very high. People were standing in mile length queues to get their jabs.
A month later in December the situation changed. Canada now has more than enough vaccine for its entire population and the vaccine is now available to anyone who wants it. There are many clinics in the city to administer the vaccine and the wait time for the shot is almost none! But, to the disappointment of health authorities suddenly there was no demand for the vaccine at all. Only 30% of Canadian chose to get vaccinated even though the H1N1 bug is still alive.
The following story teaches us important marketing principles:
1. Scarcity of resources creates high demand
Scarcity of resources always create high demand. This is why limited time offers works well in selling products and services. When resources are limited buyers feel a sense of urgency. This sense of urgency influence their buying decisions. Once the federal government had enough vaccine to cover all Canadians the sense of urgency went away in many people.
2. Herd Mentality
We humans operate like a herd of cattle. Many time we make a decision not because it works for us but because others are doing it! When people saw mile length queues for the vaccine, they joined the queues as well.
3. Habits and Perceptions are hard to change
People who haven’t taken a flu shot in the past may have been reluctant to take the H1N1 vaccine. Because they never had the habit of taking flu vaccines and many of them had the perception that the vaccine could result in side effects. It is really hard to convince this group of people due to their habits. This might explain why only 30% of the population chose to get vaccinated.
4. Fear of being left out
One way to change the habit is to invoke the fear factor. During the fall season when there were many deaths in the province due to H1N1 and when the media was covering these stories a lot of people were desperate to get the vaccine. During this time people were not concerned about the side effects of the vaccine. Because the fear of death from the flu outweighed the concerns of taking a newly developed vaccine.
The above 4 lessons can be applied in marketing to promote and sell products and services.
What do you think? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section.