COVID-19 vaccination national radio advertising credibility assessment by rural consumers: The influence of indigenous medical knowledge systems and traditional beliefs

Abstract

The rural consumer has been largely ignored in advertising research, yet they constitute more than 50% of the population in Africa. The study aimed to explore rural consumers’ assessment of COVID-19 vaccination radio advertising credibility with a peculiar focus on the influence of indigenous medical knowledge systems and traditional beliefs in Zimbabwe. The interpretive paradigm was adopted in the embedded single case study. The rural population which was purposively sampled consisted of 6Focus Group Discussions (FGD) and 12 interviews of rural consumers. Thematic approach was used to analyze the data. The results show that credibility of radio adverts on COVID-19 is dependent on the source of information, political perceptions, religious and personal experiences on COVID-19. Rural consumers also relied on traditional medicines to treat COVID-19. The rural consumers have strong belief in spirituality and witchcraft which had a bearing on the acceptance/non acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination radio adverts. The study provides theoretical insights and also practical contribution to COVID-19 vaccination managers, advertisers and health marketing practitioners to enhance the acceptance and trust of national radio ads, so as to increase rural consumers’ vaccination.