Background
In 2019, it was unthinkable that we would all be asked to avoid social gatherings, isolate from loved ones, and home-school our kids. Public health teams around the world have since made all these asks and embarked on the fastest mass vaccination programme ever known. The Government of Jersey (a UK Crown Dependency) sought our help as persuasion experts with their COVID-19 response, particularly around increasing vaccination among its Islanders.
What We Did
The work was fast paced and dynamic, treading the fine line between offering reassurance and fighting complacency. We worked with policy makers to pick up where legislation stopped. We collaborated with the communications team to optimise press releases, letters, and texts. We partnered with operations teams to make it as easy as possible for Islanders to get their vaccines. We developed appeals to get vaccinated based on 3 behavioural science concepts: messenger effects, signals of reason, and endowment effects.
Outcome
Jersey saw rapid and high levels of vaccination and relatively low case and hospitalisation levels throughout the pandemic. Our work with care-homes led to 93% vaccination of staff compared to 80% in other jurisdictions.
Our work attracted international media attention in the Harvard Business Review, Nature and the Financial Times.
Client
Government of Jersey
Service
Consultancy & Training
“It’s been a great pleasure working with the team at IAW. Their academic and scientific rigour is offered with a warm, supportive, and highly responsive working style and ethos. The value that their work has added to this organisation is very significant and has not been confined to the project we brought them in for but has spread out into other areas of our organisation and will be carried forward as a result of IAW’s commitment to educating and equipping all those who have shown an interest in their work.”