What influences you with your health?

Internet influence

What do you find influences you when it comes to your health? According to a survey, the internet has far more influence over consumer health decisions than traditional channels like print, TV and radio.

The report - Health Influence Mapping: Benchmarking the Influence of Various Sources on Consumer Health Actions - by pharmaceutical and healthcare market research company Manhattan Research, also pointed out that although the internet's role in healthcare has soared over the past decade, healthcare professionals still have the strongest effect on consumer health behavior.

"With all the changes in media and healthcare, we think it's critical for marketers to take a step back and check their assumptions around the relative influence of various health sources on consumer behavior," said Monique Levy, Senior Director of Research at Manhattan Research and lead author of the report to World Pharma News.

"We found many interesting results that can help marketers better align their marketing strategies in 2010. For example, despite the buzz around social media, editorial health content still has significantly more influence over consumer health actions than various forms of social media."

Health information

In 2009, 20 million consumers searched for health information on their mobile phones, doubling from 10 million in 2008. When it comes to social media, 80 million US adults created or consumed health-related user-generated content (UGC) online through social networks, communities or other types of media in 2009.

According to the study, 16 percent of US adults said they didn't fill a prescription in 2009 because of cost, likely due in part to the recession. Further, general attitudes toward the pharmaceutical industry show little sign of improving despite a focus on healthcare reform.

Jodie Humphries

Jodie Humphries graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA Hons in Creative Writing in 2008. She has worked for GDS Publishing for the digital group since July 2009. She has previous experience with writing for the web, running her own website since April 2007.

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