Consumers say e-newsletters, samples would help Rx decisions

Consumers say e-newsletters, samples would help Rx decisions

Forty-seven percent of surveyed consumers said informational Web sites are their preferred online format for receiving drug information, according to a survey of more than 2000 respondents from e-mail marketing and customer acquisition firm Prospectiv. An additional 37% said e-mail is their preferred online method. Prospectiv, whose clients include Pfizer, Procter & Gamble, and Schering-Plough, also found that 92% of respondents would be likely or very likely to visit treatment Web sites and 83% would be interested or very interested in receiving educational information about drug treatments. When asked about offers from pharmas, 51% of surveyed consumers would prefer free samples and 34% said educational e-newsletters would be most valuable in helping them make their drug buying decisions, according to the survey. To learn more about the survey results, go to prospectiv.com.

 

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Prospectiv Survey Shows Growing Consumer Preference for Learning about Pharmaceutical Drugs Through Online Resources; Consumers Express Preference for More Information via Educational E-Newsletters and Informational Web Sites

Business Wire via NewsEdge Corporation :

WOBURN, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 28, 2005--An increasing number of consumers are looking to online resources for accessing information about drug treatments relevant to their ailments, according to results from a Prospectiv Consumer Preference Index (CPI) poll conducted last week that gathered responses from more than 2000 consumers. The poll results also showed that physicians remain the primary resource for pharmaceutical drug information.

Prospectiv's CPI shows the majority of respondents; at 73 percent, currently look to their doctors as their primary source of information for drug treatments, while websites and email came in second at 14 percent, and mass market vehicles including television, radio, magazines, newspapers and books; at 10 percent. When consumers were asked how they would like to receive information in the future, websites and email increased to 17 percent, while magazines, newspapers and books declined slightly to 3 percent, and television and radio declined to 1 percent.

When asked about their preferred online vehicle for receiving drug treatment information, informational web sites, at 47 percent, and email at 37 percent were the top selections. Ninety-two percent surveyed said they would be very likely or likely to visit a website focused on treatments for their ailments. Eighty-three percent responded that they would be interested or very interested in receiving educational information about drug treatments.

Prospectiv's CPI also revealed that in terms of preferred offers from pharmaceutical companies that would most likely peak consumer interest in drug treatments, 51 percent would prefer free samples, while 34 percent identified educational e-newsletters as most valuable in helping them make drug purchasing decisions.

"These results confirm what we see as a growing trend for pharmaceutical marketers to leverage online technologies and communications to build closer and more direct relationships with the consumers who can benefit from the drug treatments they have to offer," said Jere Doyle, Prospectiv's president and CEO. "As a result, we've seen many of our pharmaceutical clients allocating more marketing resources on building their direct-to-patient databases through online channels."

For more information about these results, please contact Tom Francoeur at 781-388-7900, ext 205, or by email at tfrancoeur@topazpartners.com

About Prospectiv's Consumer Preference Index (CPI)

Millions of active, self-profiled consumers have registered at Prospectiv's vertically-targeted online properties - Eversave.com (connects consumers with quality offers from leading brands), TheKnowledgeStop.com (premier resource for online and campus-based education and degree programs), and Healthy-Individual.com (online resource focused on health and well-being offers) - enabling Prospectiv to compile insightful survey data for advertisers and marketers. Prospectiv's 20-point data authentication, cleansing and validation process ensures the database of self-profiled consumers is current, active, and accurate in order to deliver the highest quality data to clients.

About Prospectiv

Prospectiv provides industry-leading customer acquisition, email marketing and data analytics solutions to leading consumer brand marketers. The company's solutions enable the world's best brands to find and build profitable relationships with the right customers through multiple online channels, proprietary optimization technology, and comprehensive data validation. Prospectiv generates more than 50 million pre-qualified responses per year on a pay-for-results basis for clients, including many Fortune 1000 companies such as Procter and Gamble, Wal-Mart, Pfizer, Dell, General Mills and Schering-Plough. Founded in 1999, Prospectiv is privately-held and is based in Woburn, Ma. Please visit http://www.prospectiv.com for more information.