February 2, 2021

Audio: A Trusted Medium for COVID-19 Education

By Audacy Team

Of all the hardships due to COVID-19, moments of in-person connection is what people have missed the most. 74% Americans want to get back to visiting friends and families.¹ Yet, many Americans are on the fence about getting vaccinated. About four-in-ten (39%) say that they definitely or probably, would not get a vaccine. While 75% have at least a fair amount of confidence that the R&D process will produce safe and effective vaccines, there is considerable wariness – only 37% are comfortable in being among the first to get vaccinated.²

Vaccine hesitancy is driven by concerns about safety and side effects, distrust in political and economic motives, and lack of knowledge. With the pandemic affecting communities across the country, addressing people with targeted resources and support has become extremely important. And here’s how Audio helps.
Audio Reaches Everyone, Everywhere – Especially Those In COVID-19 Hotspots and Vaccine Hesitant Audience Groups Audio presents public health officials with tremendous opportunities to reach and mobilize those who are on the fence. We reach the most hesitant groups, such as African Americans and parents.

The Ad Council reports that African Americans have a high level of hesitancy (62% are skeptical or open but uncertain, of getting the vaccine), mainly because of distrust in government motives.¹ These audiences are listening. Nine-in-ten (89%) African Americans tune in to AM/FM radio every week, as well as over-index as monthly podcast listeners (index 123). Audacy OTA reaches over 15 million US adults from diverse racial backgrounds such as African Americans, Asians and others, and almost 8 million African Americans weekly.³
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, nearly a quarter of American parents are vaccine hesitant, mainly due to safety reasons, and this may pose implications on COVID-19 vaccination.⁴ 92% of parents tune in to AM/FM radio every week. Audacy OTA reaches over 21 million parents weekly.³ And they listen to podcasts, over-indexing significantly as monthly podcast listeners (index 134).

Audio Drives Action

Audio is in a unique position to influence with a trusted voice. Audio can amplify efforts to educate and build confidence in the COVID vaccination efforts.

Audio is the most trusted medium. Trust fosters engagement and enhances the quality of reach, creating a sense of belonging and memorability.⁵

Podcasts offer a ripe environment to discuss vaccine-related topics. Audacy’s Engaged Impressions study shows that the health and wellness genre is highly immersive⁶. This type of content emotionally connects with audiences and holds their attention.
Audio listeners take action for health. A grand majority (88%) of AM/FM radio listeners have made an appointment to see their doctors after consuming health-related ads. The trend is similar for podcast listeners, who are notably more likely than average to turn to their doctors (+19%) upon consuming a heath ad.³

Audio’s unmatched national reach, along with listeners’ trust in audio and willingness to hear about health related content, build personal touchpoints like no other medium. Therefore Audio, and especially Audacy, is able to amplify information and build confidence in the vaccine, and get us closer to finish line of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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SOURCES

¹ Ad Council COVID Collaborative COVID-19 Vaccine Education Initiative Briefing, Ipsos Formative Research, National Survey conducted Dec 15-21, 2020, n=1038 vaccine hesitant adults
² PEW Research Center, Survey conducted Nov 18-19, 2020, Intent to get a COVID-19 vaccine rises to 60% as confidence in research and development process increases
³ Nielsen Scarborough, Market/Release: Scarborough National Database 2020 Release 1 Total (Jan 2019 – May 2020), Base: Total Adults 18+ Projected: 257,715,351 Respondents: 215,475
⁴ American Academy of Pediatrics, Pediatrics December 2020, Article – Parental Vaccine Hesitancy and Childhood Influenza Vaccination
⁵ Audacy’s Engaged Impressions Custom Study, Alter Agents, August-October 2020, Sample of n=1008 US Adults (P18-54), Completed in August 2020, Base: Total Listeners (n=1008)|QM7. How much do you trust each of the following media sources when it comes to news, product recommendations, advertising etc.?
⁶ Audacy’s Engaged Impressions Custom Study, Alter Agents, August-October 2020, Neuro study of content and advertising Based on n=107,186 data points from 111 participants Three groups of randomly selected media consumers in NY, Chicago and LA markets Completed in October 2020. Immersion scores predict action with an accuracy of >80%.