The H1N1 Effect

N1 Effect: When, faced with perceived health risks,victim of "The H1N1 Effect." Some elements of
consumers make purchasing decisions about a givenpreparedness would include:
product based on fear, conjecture and media hype* Closely tracking developments related to the health
versus the facts concerning the actual risk.safety of your products, using expert resources to
In the first two years after the term "Swine Flu" washelp you spot early warning signs of risk.
used to describe the illness that mutated and jumped* "What if..." brainstorming involving internal parties and
toH1N1 WHO Logo humans from pigs, the U.S. Porkexternal experts, the goal being to think through the
Industry suffered losses estimated to be in excess ofprocess you would have to follow to respond should a
$5 billion. This despite the reality that what came to beworst-case scenario occur.
known more frequently as H1N1 - partially as a result* Creating educational materials about your products
of the outcries from farmers - cannot be contractedand/or industry and its health/safety practices that
from eating pork. And those loss figures do not, ofcould be widely and rapidly disseminated in response
course, include either the collateral damage caused toto the demand that would no doubt be created by an
meat retailers and restaurants or comparable figures"H1N1 Effect" event.
from other regions of the world.* Ensuring that your organization/industry has a very
Global reaction to the threat of BSE - most of usstrong online presence that can be used in the
know it as "Mad Cow Disease" - was far in excess tonear-term to build a cushion of goodwill and during a
the actual threat to humans.crisis for rapid communication.
Have you heard anyone say, during the past year or* Creating business continuity and crisis
two, "I'll never buy anything made in China again" or thecommunications plans, with the latter including internal
more frequent variation "I'll never eat food containingand external elements, both B2B and
ingredients from China again - or give it to my pets."direct-to-consumer.
Any number of U.S. food recalls, even after* Ensuring that appropriate personnel are trained to
government announcements made it clear that theuse those plans, to include media training and simulation
problems impacted or originated from a limitedexercises.
geographic area, prompted much more widespreadA lesson learned the hard way by some industries is
consumer avoidance until the fear subsided - usuallythat you shouldn't rely on the U.S. government or even
non-coincidental with the media and blogosphere findingyour own trade organizations to protect your
something else to panic about.reputation and bottom line when the stuff hits the fan.
I'm not a psychologist and hence will not try to explainFor weeks after BSE was finally detected in a
why people react as they have. As a crisisU.S.-based cow, I couldn't find a single restaurant
management professional, I need only to know thatserver, or grocery store employee, who could tell me
they have, and will again, demonstrate what I call "Thewith certainty that the beef I bought at their locations
H1N1 Effect,", which occurs when consumers makewas safe to eat. The government's announcements
fear-based irrational decisions about a perceived healthwere all in consumer-unfriendly jargon, and the industry
risk that wreak extensive financial damage, threatenassociations were completely unprepared despite the
organizational and/or brand reputations, and causeknown threat. If they had been prepared to support
severe business interruptions.their distribution chain with messaging that would
Knowing this, it is incumbent on crisis managers,minimize loss of sales, I would have been given a
particularly those involved with products which couldreassuring handout right on the scene.
potentially impact consumer health and/or safety, to beThe next "H1N1 Effect" is coming. Are you prepared?
prepared when their stakeholders could be the next