Personalized texts Boost Adult Vaccination Rates by 20%
Personalized messaging has lifted vaccination rates by roughly 20 percent compared with generic pharmacy prompts, according to a new study from Lirio. The finding comes as pharmacies seek data-driven ways to boost adult immunizations amid shifting public attitudes.
How Lirio builds its vaccine nudges
Since the rollout of the COVID-19 shots in 2021, Amy Bucher, chief of behavioral design at Lirio, says the firm has been sending text-message nudges to pharmacy members. Early efforts focused on the novel COVID vaccine, then expanded in 2023 to cover the adult RSV shot, seasonal flu, pneumococcal and shingles vaccines.
The company pairs each brief message with custom graphics created by its visual designers. While most SMS alerts contain only text, Lirio also deploys email and MMS formats for users who have opted in to richer pharmacy communications.
To decide which wording works best, Lirio looks to the “mega studies” conducted by Wharton School researcher Dr. Katie Milkman. Those experiments test dozens of behavioral-science variations on large populations, allowing Lirio to identify the most effective phrasing for each vaccine.
Key language that drives action
Research in 2024 showed that language emphasizing personal autonomy resonated across the vaccine-hesitancy spectrum. Messages begin by reminding recipients that they control their own health decisions, a cue that proved equally persuasive for staunch supporters and skeptics alike.
When it comes to infant vaccines, Lirio is adapting its strategy to address parents rather than patients directly. The firm recognizes that caregivers are motivated by a desire to do right by their children, a sentiment that can be woven into supportive messaging.
Bucher recalls that as a child she imagined measles as a 1950s sitcom-style illness, not realizing it could cause severe systemic complications, a perception gap that now informs how Lirio plans to frame future measles messaging.
Visual and delivery formats
Graphics accompany each message, crafted by the firm’s visual designers who blend photography with illustration to echo the behavioral cues embedded in the text. Because standard SMS lacks image capability, the company also leverages email and multimedia messaging for users who have opted into richer communications, ensuring that every campaign includes a visual component even if only a subset of recipients sees it.
Behavioral toolkit and client collaboration
We do not nudge around measles yet. We would need to do that research. Lirio works from a taxonomy that includes several negative ones, but the company doesn’t use most of those because people try to avoid things that are upsetting or fear.
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