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1 in 3 Aussies likely to spend more at vaccine-mandated businesses

New research from marketing analytics and strategic advisory agency, Forethought has found that more than one in three Australians (36%) are likely to prioritise businesses with vaccine mandates for its employees.

This comes in Forethought’s September Mind and Mood report, which surveys nearly 20,000 Australians, as consumers are increasingly aware that mass vaccination nationally is the clear and only pathway out of the pandemic.

Support for vaccinated workforces reaches a high in New South Wales, where almost half (44%) of the respondents claimed they would spend more money at businesses where vaccines were mandated for employees.

Forethought general manager Rachel Edwardes said: “For organisations grappling with the decision of whether to mandate that their frontline staff are vaccinated, this data suggests that Australian shoppers would generally support that decision, with 36% indicating they would spend more with organisations that take this action. Less than 10% of Australians said they would penalise a business for mandating employee vaccination.

Breakdown by state [click to enlarge]

Businesses have been looking to the government for vaccine mandates, in order to avoid any potential legal troubles that may arise from requiring employees to be vaccinated.

Virgin Australia mandated its 6,000 employees be vaccinated, with CEO Jayne Hrdlicka telling the ABC the airline would be considering something similar to a “smoking and non-smoking section”, but rather a “vaccinated section and a non-vaccinated section”. Qantas also mandated all of its 22,000 staff to be vaccinated, with front line staff required to be vaccinated by November 15.

CEO of Qantas, Alan Joyce said: “Having a fully vaccinated workforce will safeguard our people against the virus but also protect our customers and the communities we fly to.”

Edwardes continued: “From a consumer confidence perspective, if Australian businesses do implement the mandate, there is an opportunity for their marketing and customer experience strategies to incorporate reminding customers that they are/intend to be a part of the ‘Vaccinated Economy.”

Forethought appointed a new global CEO in July, with former Omnicom agency, Annalect’s CEO Darren Stein taking on the role.

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