Johnston, Zabor, McManus, Inc.-Study Finds Consumers Driven to Pharmaceutical Websites from DTC Ads More Likely to Request Prescriptions
Initial findings from JZM’s National Drug Website Benchmark Study show Forty-four percent of consumers driven to pharmaceutical websites from Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) advertising intend to ask their physicians to prescribe that website’s brand. Magazine readers who found a website link in a magazine advertisement were more likely to request a prescription (46%) than those who found the link on a TV (44%) or radio (37%) advertisement – resulting in 44% of all consumers driven to pharmaceutical websites from DTC advertisements. Of those who visited pharmaceutical websites via a search engine or other source, 19% indicated they would request a prescription; only 14% of website visitors who visited the website based on their physicians’ referral said they would request prescriptions.
(PRWEB) March 13, 2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 08, 2002
Study Finds Consumers Driven to Pharmaceutical Websites from DTC Ads More Likely to Request Prescriptions
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC – Forty-four percent of consumers driven to pharmaceutical websites from Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) advertising intend to ask their physicians to prescribe that website’s brand, according to results announced today by pharmaceutical research agency Johnston, Zabor, McManus, Inc. (JZM). Additionally, 10% of non-prescribing physicians intend to begin prescribing after visiting the average brand website.
Initial findings from JZM’s National Drug Website Benchmark Study also show that magazine readers who found a website link in a magazine advertisement were more likely to request a prescription (46%) than those who found the link on a TV (44%) or radio (37%) advertisement – resulting in 44% of all consumers driven to pharmaceutical websites from DTC advertisements. Of those who visited pharmaceutical websites via a search engine or other source, 19% indicated they would request a prescription; only 14% of website visitors who visited the website based on their physicians’ referral said they would request prescriptions.
“Our analysis of the study data sheds light on issues that confound pharmaceutical brand managers concerning their DTC spends,” says J. Douglas Zabor, JZM’s Chief Executive Officer. “Magazine and TV ads appear to generate almost equal numbers of website visits that drive prescription request intentions, yet TV gets the lion’s share of the budget. This data may help brand managers reconsider their DTC media buying habits.”
The study also finds that 21% of healthcare providers who visit a pharmaceutical website indicate they will discuss the brand with colleagues, 34% say they will search for more information and 15% say they will discuss the brand with patients. Encouragingly, the study reports that 10% of physicians who are currently not prescribing a particular brand will begin to do so after visiting the brandÂ’s website. Overall, JZM believes the studyÂ’s results suggest that websites play a large role in a pharmaceutical companyÂ’s value proposition to both consumers and healthcare providers.
For more information, contact Dean Sanpei, Sr. Project Manager (1-800-735-5448, dsanpei@jzm. com), or visit www. jzm. com.
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Johnston, Zabor, McManus, Inc. is a leading pharmaceutical business research agency helping the industry manage customer equity through innovative research.
Providing Business Solutions Through Comprehensive Research
Johnston, Zabor, McManus, Inc. (JZM) is a widely recognized business and marketing research firm. JZM offers a comprehensive range of research services for the management of new product discovery, development, positioning and launch, as well as marketing analytics, competitive assessments, e-business strategy and development and DTC planning.
The companyÂ’s core competencies focus on marketing, customer relationship and communications research, augmented by database management/analysis and e-commerce support. JZM links its competencies with strategic insight into customer relationship management to provide total market vision and enhance decision-making confidence. At JZM, we merge proven marketing research techniques with Internet-based research and state-of-the-art technologies to deliver faster, better and more comprehensive results for our clients.
JZMÂ’s extensive marketing and communications research experience includes all major providers throughout all therapeutic categories and most patient types. In addition, we maintain contact with industry leaders and other knowledgeable industry sources to give our clients a competitive edge.
Benchmarking the Perceived Value of Pharmaceutical Websites
In 2001, JZM conducted the National Drug Website Benchmark study in an effort to develop a credible benchmark for measuring visitorsÂ’ perceived value of pharmaceutical websites.
The study included 16 therapeutically diverse brand websites, encompassing eight unique drug classes. 6,709 respondents – including patients, caregivers, physicians and other healthcare professionals – participated in the 54-question, online intercept survey. The respondent pool consisted entirely of visitors to the 16 websites who opted to participate in the survey during their visit.
Survey data analysis identified the 21 VVI Dimension Drivers (from a larger set) and provided the basis for the linear and curvilinear relationships that derive the VVI score. For more information about the Study, contact Johnston, Zabor, McManus, Inc. (1-800-735-5448, sales@jzm. com).
