24% of Pharma Ad Responders Research Drug Websites

Makovsky Health and Kelton Research asked which online resources consumers used to accessåÊHealth information, and just 8% of U.S. Internet users ages 66 and older cited pharmaceutical company websites‰ÛÓthe lowest response rate across all age groups. Instead, seniors were most likely to turn to WebMD, cited by 48%.

Of the 80% of Americans willing to visit a Pharma-sponsored website, those 66 and older were more likely to visit the site if a health-​care professional recommended it (52%).

This is "the highest response rate‰ÛÓmeaning that to get to seniors, pharmaceutical companies need to get to doctors first. One way to do so is through mobile. In a January 2015 study by MedData Group, 53% of U.S. doctors said pharmaceutical information was a leading type of health-​related content they viewed via mobile‰ÛÓthe No. 2 response," eMarketer reports.

Doctor recommendation matters less to Millennials, with 41% visiting a site based on physician suggestion, and Millennials are also 23% more likely to be motivated by an advertisement to visit a pharma-​sponsored website than those 66 and older.

"Advertisements in magazines, TV, and the like, played a much smaller role in swaying site visits, as fewer than 1/​4th of seniors said ads would motivate them to visit a pharma-​sponsored site, vs. a total average of 41%," eMarketer reports.

When it comes to social media, Millennials are 25% more likely to trust a pharma-​sponsored platform than those 66 and older (31% vs. 6%). Social media lacks authority with the general population as 79% of respondents reported they trust these channels either "a little bit" or "not at all."åÊPatients with a diagnosed chronic medical condition, however, report "complete trust" in these channels at nearly double the rate of the average population.

According to AudienceSCAN data, 24.1% of U.S. adults said seeing/​hearing an ad for a prescription drug led them to research it on the drug's website. 54% of these pharma ad responders are men.

AudienceSCAN also points out that direct mail should be an effective way to reach drug-​website researchers, since 19% of them started online searches after receiving direct mailings.

Pharma-​ad responders also think the best sources for health/​medical information are: TV (17.4%); magazines (11.2%); and newspapers (8.9%).

AudienceSCAN data is available as part of a subscription to AdMall for Agencies. Media companies can access AudienceSCAN data through the Audience Intelligence Reports inåÊAdMall.

Courtney Huckabay

Courtney Huckabay

Courtney is the Editor for SalesFuel Today. She analyzes secondary customer research and our primary AudienceSCAN research. Courtney is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University.