Market segmentation strategies can be used to overcome COVID‐19 vaccine hesitancy and other health crises

• Published date: 01 June 2022
• Author: Matthew D. Meng,Mitchell C. Olsen
• Date: 01 June 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12421

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

Market segmentation strategies can be used to

overcome COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and

other health crises

Matthew D. Meng

1

| Mitchell C. Olsen

2

1

Huntsman School of Business, Utah

State University, Logan, Utah, USA

2

Mendoza College of Business, University

of Notre Dame, Notre Dame,

Indiana, USA

Correspondence

Matthew D. Meng, Huntsman School of

Business, Utah State University, 3550 Old

Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322, USA.

Email: matthew.meng@usu.edu

Abstract

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact every-

one to some degree, it has become clear that experts from

many disparate fields must work together to overcome

such public health crises. Even now, a significant portion

of U.S. residents remain hesitant to receive a vaccine. In

the quest to safely return to a fully open economy, time is

of the essence, as many lives and livelihoods can be saved

by even marginal improvements in vaccination rates. To

reach widespread immunization sooner, science stands to

benefit by using market segmentation strategies with vac-

cine holdouts, much like brands do with customers. As

evidence, we present results from a national survey seg-

mented into four groups of COVID-19 vaccine holdouts.

When viewed and considered as separate segments,

important distinctions regarding the nature and strength

of reasons behind COVID-19 vaccine aversion, and the

solutions to which people are most open, become clearer.

KEYWORDS

COVID-19, pandemic, segmentation strategies, vaccine

hesitancy

1|INTRODUCTION

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, an oft-repeated mantra to rally U.S. residents through

this public health crisis has been “we are all in this together”(Momplaisir, 2020). While the

Received: 1 June 2021 Revised: 27 September 2021 Accepted: 13 October 2021

DOI: 10.1111/joca.12421

© 2021 American Council on Consumer Interests.

J Consum Aff. 2022;56:957–968. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/joca 957