Business professor Imran Currim co-authors article on how to win over vaccine skeptics

Imran Currim, UCI Distinguished Professor of business and director of The Paul Merage School of Business’ Beall Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, is co-author of an article that offers three recommendations for harnessing the power of influencers, celebrities and the fear of missing out to speed acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines. These customer-centric approaches include recognizing and activating the “innovators” – those who are the most enthusiastic about getting their shots – through targeted communication to reach the “early adopters.” This group is eager but has some uncertainties and concerns, which the innovators can address. The most effective method for reaching the “laggards” is to create a sense of social and economic FOMO. Rohit Deshpandé, the Sebastian S. Kresge Professor of Marketing at Harvard Business School, and Ofer Mintz, senior lecturer and associate head of external engagement in the marketing department at Australia’s University of Technology Sydney Business School, are the other authors of the article, which appears in the Jan. 29 online newsletter Working Knowledge, published by Harvard Business School.