Dive Brief:
- Millennials were the most likely generation to respond to pharma advertising and visit a related website, a new survey from Makovsky/Kelton found. Just over half (51%) of millennials would be motivated to visit a pharma site, compared to 36% of Gen-Xers and 26% of baby boomers.
- Although online marketing has expanded, TV remained the most influential medium among millennials. Just over a quarter of those surveyed said they would respond most to TV advertising.
- Celebrity endorsements, however, carried little weight. Only 22% of millennials and 13% of participants overall trusted celebrity endorsements of pharmaceuticals.
Dive Insight:
Many pharmaceutical companies have embraced a mixed-media approach to marketing, spreading advertising across print, digital, and television spots in order to best reach their market.
The Makovsky/Kelton “Pulse of Online Search” survey gives some hint to which mediums best engage different generations.
Although it may seem counterintuitive, millennials proved very responsive to television compared to other mediums. The youngest generation was also the most likely to ask for a medication for name when they visited the doctor’s office, with 69% reporting they would be likely to do so.
However, the results showed pharma websites scored low on trustworthiness, compared to other online health resources. Health systems’ websites, alongside advocacy organizations’, scored the highest.
Pharma websites also had a low utilization rate, with only 12% of those surveyed visiting. Given millennials’ receptiveness to pharmaceutical advertising, the results suggest pharma companies have more room to build up utilization of their branded sites.
The survey was fielded to 1,035 Americans over the age of 18 in February 2016.