January 29, 2010
By marketing4health in Canada's Online Health CheckResourcessocial media
Next week, I will be posting a blog series on Canadian healthcare social networks; 1 network reviewed per day! These are online communities where Canadian patients (and sometimes patients from other countries as well), share healthcare-related, and sometimes very personal information with one another.
As such, I was interested in learning more about how Canadian patients who connect with one another on online communities trust the information that they are receiving from one another. My immediate thought was to connect with the Edelman group.
If you have ever talked with somebody who either had been diagnosed with a similar disease or was taking a similar treatment as you, did you trust the information that you were given by that person? Chances are pretty good that you would have trusted the information given by that person, but not as much as in previous years.
The 2008, 2009 and 2010 Edelman Trust Barometer reports confirm this. Trust in a "person like yourself" has decreased from 2008 to 2009 (as have most information sources listed in the report), and dropped again in 2010. From the global 2010 Edelman report, 44% of respondents aged between 25-64 years said they would find the information from a person like them to be either 'very credible' or 'extremely credible' (down from 47% in 2009, and 58% in 2008). That's a huge drop over the past 3 years!
[caption id="attachment_332" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Edelman 2010 Trust Barometer"]
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Interestingly, the "person like yourself" is the only group that actually decreased in trust from 2009 to 2010. All other information sources either increased in trust or remained the same. It makes you wonder what happened to make us lose so much trust in people similar to ourselves. Unfortunately, the Edelman report does not give an answer to this question. They do provide insight though, regarding the increase in trust in the other groups;
"In a volatile year, it seems that informed publics value guidance from credentialed experts over a “person like me,” which lost ground as a credible voice of information for a company (figure 8). This desire for substantial information points to why academics and experts, and financial or industry analysts are the most trusted spokespeople for a company."
But do these global statistics reflect Canadian trust?
The Edelman reports provide global and some country data, but do not break down any Canadian data. The Edelman group in Toronto agreed to dig up the Canadian information for me. However, at the time of publishing this post, the 2010 Edelman Trust report had just been released a few days prior, and the Canadian data was not yet available. It should become available within the next 2 months, and the Edelman group in Toronto has promised to send me some Canadian statistics as soon as possible (yup, I`ll be posting that info for you as soon as I get it).
But in the meantime, the Edelman group in Toronto was kind enough to send me some Canadian statistics from the 2009 report;
In 2009, the global trust in a "person like yourself" was 47%, whereas the
Canadian trust in a "person like yourself" was 49%. OK, so Canadians scored a bit higher, but not by much. It will be interesting to see what the 2010 report shows, particularly whether the Canadian score will have increased or decreased, or stayed the same over time.
Another point to keep in mind is that a "person like yourself" is not the same as a "patient like yourself". The Edelman report does not specifically discuss trust in health issues from a "person like yourself". Talking about sports gear with another sports fanatic is very different than talking about your cancer treatments with another patient. Medical information can be so technical, yet healthcare can be a very personal and emotional topic for patients. Who knows! Perhaps patients with newly diagnosed diseases or prescriptions might have greater, or perhaps much less trust in another "
patient like yourself".
Can we answer the question whether Canadian patients trust others like them? Not entirely, at least not from this report. I think we can infer from the 2009 data that there definitely would be some level of trust. But to what level would we trust other Canadian patients, and how would this compare with other information sources? Those questions remain unanswered, at least from this particular report.
Another
study by Essential Research Inc., Essential Healthconsumer, which was implemented in 2008 and published in 2009, suggests that more than half (57%) of Canadian healthcare consumers have greater trust in Canadian sites, whereas 36% trust all (Canadian, American, International) sites equally. However, only 14% of Canadian healthcare consumers who found healthcare information online actually shared it with others online. So it appears that having a Canadian online community might enhance the trust of its members.
The 14% of Canadians willing to share their findings seems a bit low when compared to the
Social Technographics Profile tool, which suggests that 18% of Canadian adults are 'creators' and that 29% are 'critics' (ie. participate in online forums) on social media. You can learn more about the
Social Technographics Profile here.
I have two theories as to why this might be, but they remain untested opinions, so take it with a grain of salt;
1) This could be a result of the difference in timing of the two studies. The Essential HealthConsumer data was gathered in November / December 2008, whereas the Social Technographics Profile tool includes 2009 data. Social media is evolving quickly, therefore the time difference in collecting the data for both studies could be the reason for the discrepancy as more and more people are becoming familiar and comfortable in using social media.
2) Moreover, similarly to the earlier argument that a 'person like yourself' is different than a '
patient like yourself', the Essential Research data is related to sharing of healthcare information online, whereas the Social Technographics Profile is related to general postings and comments made on social media. Healthcare is very personal and can be emotional, therefore one might expect to see fewer Canadians willing to share such sensitive information online with others. But that very same person might be quite comfortable in sharing information about the new pair of shoes that he or she just bought for a bargain.
And finally, the type of disease state involved might influence whether Canadian patients trust other patients like them enough to share information with them online. Although not Canadian-specific and not trust-specific, the North American Technographics Benchmark Survey of 2008 (Source: Forrester Inc. Research; blogs.forrester.com ─ April 22, 2009) suggests certain disease states that participate the most, and might benefit the most from online communities (see top right quadrant on chart below).
The upcoming Canadian healthcare social network blog series might provide some qualitative information about how much Canadian patients trust others like them. You will notice that the level of member activity on these online communities varies. As you review these various online communities next week, keep in mind the type of disease state involved, the age of the typical members, the various features that facilitate the online discussions, and the sophistication of the management of the networks (most of the networks to be featured are managed by non-profit medical organizations who are juggling funding and personnel with multiple organizational objectives). This might help us better understand why some medical online communities seem to be more effective than others. Hopefully the series will stimulate some thought and discussion, and maybe even motivate some strategic partnerships.
Let us know your thoughts on whether Canadian patients trust others like them by writing a comment.
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A big thank you to the Edelman group in Toronto for their speedy responses and feedback. I was truly amazed at their level of customer service. (Thanks to Scott Evans and Lisa Kimmel for all your help!)
As well, many thanks to Essential Research Inc. for giving me permission to share some of their insightful Canadian data. (Thanks to Don Lajoie for his ongoing support and passion in sharing information about Canadian and e-health.)
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Stay in touch,
Natalie
Connect with me on the following networks:
FaceBook,
Twitter,
LinkedIn
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[caption id="attachment_1589" align="aligncenter" width="468" caption="Interactive Yahoo Canada ad for Motrin Canada FaceBook page - December 2010"]
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There was no promotion of the FaceBook page on the Canadian Motrin® site itself. The site looks a little outdated (customer comments all date from 2003 and the special offer that is promoted is no longer available), so promoting their social media activities may not be a priority for the organization at this time.
Once you click on one of the ads, you are brought to the Motrin® Canada FaceBook page, on the Wicked Pain-Poker app tab.
Then you select which friend you want to poke, crop their photo in the 'face' of the voodoo doll, identify whether it is a male or female, ... and then you get to poke the doll wherever you want.
SPOILER ALERT - do not continue to read if you want to find out by yourself what happens once you poke the doll, but please come back to tell us what you think though.
From what I could see, there are 3 variations of outcomes depending on where you poke the doll: A) if you poke in the head, a piano drops on the doll, B) if you poke in the torso, a shark eats the doll's arm (same as in the Yahoo Canada ad), and C) if you poke in the legs, a pinata donkey charges at the doll and makes the doll fall.
Ouch ouch ouch !!! Once the poke outcome is completed, you have the choice of sending the pain poke to your friend or not. So if you had a lot of fun inflicting pain on one of your FaceBook friends and then get a guilty conscious that maybe this person might not appreciate the joke, the person will not know unless you send them the message. Maybe I am being naive, but my bet is that most people will have fun with the app to see the different outcomes, but they won't send it to their friends. Would you send it? I am not sure that I would. But if you do decide to let your friend know that you have poked them, you can write a personalized note.
You will notice that at the bottom right corner, there is an offer for $5 off Motrin®. Just that might be enough to get some people interested in checking out the Wicked Pain-Poker app.
Community rules and monitoring: Now although this is meant for fun, McNeil Consumer Healthcare takes the management and monitoring of the Motrin® Canada FaceBook page very seriously. Members of the community may post statements and comments on the Wall, and they can also 'Like' posts, but there are rules that members must to follow. See the rules below. You will notice that members are asked not to post adverse reactions /events while using a particular product. The organization is very clear that if adverse reactions / events are posted on the page that they will be disclosed to the appropriate authorities, including member's name :
The posts made by members of the community have been minimal so far, but in fairness, the site is only 10 days old at the time of writing this article. There have been several posts that fall within the "I love this page" category, and 1 post from an offended pain sufferer. As the number of posts grow, we will see how the community members truly feel about the page. Motrin® Canada has so far only written 2 posts themselves, and have not commented on any of the members' posts yet. It is still early to see what type of engagement will fall out of the Motrin® Canada page, but I certainly look forward to watching it unfold.
My guess is that the target audience for the Wicked Pain-Poker is somebody who experiences pain on occasion, or maybe not at all (at least not yet, with the hopes that if they ever do, that Motrin® will be the brand that comes to mind first). Chonic pain sufferers might be more apt to find the application too offensive, and they could feel ridiculed. Although this has not been confirmed, my assumption is that the organization is prepared to respond appropriately if the Wicket Pain-Poker app gets too much negative feedback from pain sufferers based on J&J's previous (and very public) experience with the Motrin® Moms situation. Other Motrin® Moms case study resourcer here.
What is the strategy of the Motrin® Canada FaceBook page? According to David Akermanis, Producer/DJ. Account Manager, Health at Edelman, the strategy is to reinforce the brand’s position as the pain reliever that ‘targets your pain’. The Motrin® Wicked Pain-Poker Application is a fun and light-hearted way to bring that positioning to life.
Is this the first time that Motrin has been involved in light hearted jabs at pain? No way! You might recall the Motrin® Wickedest Wipeouts Contest which was held earlier this year. According to David Akermanis, the Wipeouts Canada contest really emphasized the passion with which Canadians are engaging online. As such, McNeil Consumer Healthcare wanted to take that a step further by starting the Motrin® Canada Facebook Page. David also states that although the Motrin® Canada Facebook Page is the only Canadian Motrin social media property at this point, there are additional opportunities that the Motrin® team is looking at for 2011.
Agencies involved: TAXI developed the Motrin® Canada Facebook Page and the Motrin® Wicked Pain-Poker Application, Edelman is responsible for community management/measurement and J3 Canada is responsible for the online media buy.
Many thanks to David Akermanis, Producer/DJ. Account Manager, Health at Edelman, and Rachel Segal, Consumer Marketing Account Director at Edelman for their help in answering some of my questions about this case study.
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Despite the fact that the Motrin® Canada Wicked Pain-Poker app is meant for fun, pain is a very serious issue that affects many Canadians. The Canadian Pain Coalition reports that 17% to 31% of the general community report chronic pain. Hopefully it is true that laughter is the best medicine and that some pain sufferers can relieve a bit of their pain for at least a moment or so by being a member of the Motrin® Canada FaceBook page.
I encourage you to join the Motrin® Canada FaceBook page and test out the Wicked Pain-Poker app.
Do you want to test the Wicket Pain-Poker app without risk of insulting any of your FaceBook friends? Then feel free to use me as your guinea pig - I won't take offense. You can find me on FaceBook here . Seriously - go ahead!
What do you think of the Motrin ® Canada FaceBook page and the Wicked Pain-Poker app? Is McNeil Consumer Healthcare targeting the right audience with this tactic to drive their business?
Stay in touch,
Natalie
Connect with me on the following networks:
FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn
[/caption]
Interestingly, the "person like yourself" is the only group that actually decreased in trust from 2009 to 2010. All other information sources either increased in trust or remained the same. It makes you wonder what happened to make us lose so much trust in people similar to ourselves. Unfortunately, the Edelman report does not give an answer to this question. They do provide insight though, regarding the increase in trust in the other groups;
In 2009, the global trust in a "person like yourself" was 47%, whereas the Canadian trust in a "person like yourself" was 49%. OK, so Canadians scored a bit higher, but not by much. It will be interesting to see what the 2010 report shows, particularly whether the Canadian score will have increased or decreased, or stayed the same over time.
Another point to keep in mind is that a "person like yourself" is not the same as a "patient like yourself". The Edelman report does not specifically discuss trust in health issues from a "person like yourself". Talking about sports gear with another sports fanatic is very different than talking about your cancer treatments with another patient. Medical information can be so technical, yet healthcare can be a very personal and emotional topic for patients. Who knows! Perhaps patients with newly diagnosed diseases or prescriptions might have greater, or perhaps much less trust in another "patient like yourself".
Can we answer the question whether Canadian patients trust others like them? Not entirely, at least not from this report. I think we can infer from the 2009 data that there definitely would be some level of trust. But to what level would we trust other Canadian patients, and how would this compare with other information sources? Those questions remain unanswered, at least from this particular report.
Another study by Essential Research Inc., Essential Healthconsumer, which was implemented in 2008 and published in 2009, suggests that more than half (57%) of Canadian healthcare consumers have greater trust in Canadian sites, whereas 36% trust all (Canadian, American, International) sites equally. However, only 14% of Canadian healthcare consumers who found healthcare information online actually shared it with others online. So it appears that having a Canadian online community might enhance the trust of its members.
The 14% of Canadians willing to share their findings seems a bit low when compared to the Social Technographics Profile tool, which suggests that 18% of Canadian adults are 'creators' and that 29% are 'critics' (ie. participate in online forums) on social media. You can learn more about the Social Technographics Profile here.
