Government Inaction Created By Organization of Ignorance

Firms can scientifically prove the effectiveness of their products, so customers can trust them and promote their sales. The focus of this study is that this customer product approval process creates corporate blind trust and organization of ignorance.

This study takes the case of the cervical cancer vaccine in Japan. I demonstrate the social impact of organization of ignorance regarding the cervical cancer vaccine.

The Japanese vaccine marketing firms were deluded about the scientific efficacy of the vaccine and believed that proof of the efficacy of the vaccine would gain the support of most physicians. They further believed that support from physicians would translate into support from the public who would be vaccinated.

However, physician support alone was not sufficient for active vaccination. It is essential to have support not only from physicians but also from the public, and the vaccine marketing firms were ignorant of the importance of gaining support from the public. For ten years, citizens did not endorse vaccines that were not supported by the public, while the government approved them as products. As a result, the government's inaction led to an increase in the number of cervical cancer cases.

Organization of ignorance creates distrust from customers, and customer distrust leads to government inaction. This study demonstrated through natural language network analysis on SNS that the process of organization of ignorance contributes to negative social effects.