How Match’s Black and Hispanic dating apps are helping close the vaccine gap

COVID-19 has been a consistent story of inequity for minority groups. Just as Black and Hispanic populations have been infected with the coronavirus at higher rates than white people,疫苗的摄取保持较低among those populations. Only 9% of total vaccinations have gone to Black people, who represent 12% of the population, and 13% to Hispanics, who represent 17% of the population. Across 41 states, white people have been vaccinated at a rate 1.5 times higher than Black people, and 1.4 times higher than Hispanics. Working to fix the disparities, the Biden White House has recruited unusual allies for its latest strategy—dating apps.

上周，White House announced与Match Group的“外部计划”，Match Group是世界上最受欢迎的约会应用程序的母公司，包括Tinder，Hinge和Okcupid。在其应用程序名单中，Match将于为现在的使用者提供激励措施，以便为其现成的用户接种疫苗。但是，Match的以少数族裔品牌（即BLK和Chispa）的领导人感到特别责任直接与他们的基础交谈，这些基地经历了特定的疫苗接种障碍和更广泛的犹豫，以帮助增加吸收。

“This is really our effort to support the White House in their goals of ending the pandemic and helping our individual communities,” says Julia Estacolchic, head of brand marketing for Chispa. “We are doing our part to help with a bigger goal.”

Spanish for “spark,” Chispa caters to Hispanic singles, and helps people who want to date within the community meet others with similar backgrounds, values, and experiences. It’s one of the apps within Match Affinity, Match’s portfolio of brands serving niche audiences that share commonalities, such as race, age, or religion. Both Chispa and BLK, for Black singles, launched in 2017, and have reached 4 million and 5 million downloads, respectively.

狭窄的观众意味着这些应用程序可以以“超目标”方式调整其消息传递。BLK用户知道他们不是次要的想法，也不是“因为它是黑人历史月，因为它是黑人历史月的前部，” BLK营销和品牌主管Jonathan Kirkland说。“我们有100％的时间专注于黑人单打。”这种重点不仅是帮助单身人士找到浪漫伴侣的关键，而且是在社会不确定性时期成为社区的资源，目的是“激发积极变革的行动”。例如，在2020年大选期间，BLK与公民联盟合作，招募1,200名成员poll workerswhen many older volunteers dropped out due to COVID-19.

Now, that social priority is vaccination uptake. Starting June 1, users on both apps will be able to display their vaccinated statuses via a badge on their profile, displayed as a check mark and the wordVaxifiedon BLK, orVacunadoon Chispa, which potential matches will see. That’ll serve as peace of mind: Based on April data, 56% of Chispa users and 45% of BLK users would want to know if a match had received the vaccine before meeting for a date.最近的OKCUPID数据revealed that vaccinated singles are 14% more likely to receive matches. Vaccinated users will also receive a免费的“ Boost”，usually a paid feature where users can skip to the front of the line for a short space of time and be viewed first by potential matches. (Vaccination status will be declared on a trust system, without the need for proof.)

目的不是仅仅是为了奖励接种疫苗，而是要教育犹豫或结构性障碍率更高的团体。由于缺乏获得医疗服务或无法休假的时间，许多少数民族一直在努力免疫。一些西班牙裔人担心immigration status在危险之中。在黑人社区中，由于其进行种族主义医学实验的历史，美国政府对美国政府有很大的不信任Tuskegee研究.

在大部分时间里，主要障碍是缺乏信息。为了提高知名度，两家公司都与广告委员会合作，在其应用程序上为非营利性的免费广告空间提供了合作。点击这些广告，或在应用程序也将发送的推送通知中，将把用户带到广告委员会的“It’s Up to You” campaign page，回答有关疫苗以及何处接收的问题，以便人们可以做出明智的决定。柯克兰说：“我们不想向他们宣讲。”“我们不想像我们是父母一样指着手指。”

This is all part of Match’s collaboration with the Biden administration to help reach its goal of 70% of Americans having had at least one dose of the vaccine by July 4. Andy Slavitt, acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, started aWhite House press briefing上周宣布驱动器。他说：“我们终于找到了使我们所有人更具吸引力的一件事：一种疫苗接种。”他提到大流行为许多人带来的社会孤立和孤独。他说：“除了疫苗以外，人们对生活中的其他事物感兴趣。”“但是疫苗使人们能够回到生活中享受的事物。”

Match Group的所有品牌都将参与该计划。OkCupid还为接种疫苗的用户免费提升；铰链将为他们提供免费的“玫瑰”，并免费提供“超级类似”，用户可以向潜在的日期表示他们特别感兴趣的日期。Tinder还发布了“教育和将成员与最近的疫苗接种现场联系起来的资源套件”。但是，由于其多样化的客户群，这些主流应用必须更广泛地定位。Estacolchic说：“我们正在做的事情是：“我们正在做的事情要脱颖而出。

For instance, she says physical proximity and contact as well as large family gatherings and celebrations are culturally important for a lot of Chispa’s users. “It is really important that we can help them go back to those things that are a key pillar for our community.” These cultural touch points will feature in the ongoing ads to be rolled out in the apps and via social media posts. One ChispaInstagram帖子reads: “Get back to besos y abrazos” (“kisses and hugs”).Another读：“再次准备好派对？”（短缺Para el Party，或“为聚会”）。所采用的内容和语言 - 始终如一地使用Spanglish - 专门为西班牙裔听众制定。

Both companies will also be donating to community organizations, such as faith-based groups, that have been effective on the grassroots level to mobilize people to get the shot. While most recipients are yet to be announced, one isthe Concilio, a nonprofit that hosts vaccination drives in Hispanic neighborhoods across Dallas, the home of Match Group.

由于这些应用程序具有如此精确的平台的优势，因此两者都将广告系列视为对他们所服务社区的责任。柯克兰说：“这不仅仅是一个用户接种疫苗。”“这是关于社区安全的，因为您有疫苗。”