Digital strategies in marketing to the consumer

Over the past decade, the consumer has emerged as a significant partner in the complex universe of health and healthcare. Governments, insurers, physicians and pharmaceutical companies increasingly use the terms ‘patient’ and ‘healthcare consumer’ interchangeably, conceding that the end-users in the health value chain are indeed concerned with quality, cost and access to care and information. Healthcare consumers, as compared to passive patients, play a role, both real and perceived, in the healthcare decision-making process. Health consumers are demanding, more interested in self-determination and more likely to develop loyalty to products or healthcare and pharmaceutical companies that partner with them and consider them as a partner [114]. While there is still considerable debate as to the extent of consumer empowerment in healthcare, we believe that increasing involvement in the healthcare financial transaction, either directly or through insurance schemes, is indeed forcing citizens of industrialized countries to take a far greater interest in the quality and price of health services and products. Similarly, we face a daily barrage of scientific and lifestyle information in a world where health is extremely newsworthy, but the best methods of building relationships with and marketing to health consumers are still to be found.