Global Healthcare Calls for Target Marketing

Author:

Nielsen Wire

Source:

 No matter where consumers live, healthcare is important. But where they live often determines how minor ailments are treated. While Europeans put their trust in the neighborhood pharmacist, North Americans rely more on the advice of doctors. In countries where healthcare infrastructures and economies are evolving, opportunities exist to lessen the considerable burden consumers currently put on doctors and help governments reduce their healthcare expenditure.
 
The sore throat and cough that accompany the onset of a cold usually sends the typical American to his local drug store to purchase a preferred over-the-counter remedy, chosen because of past experience with the product. Rarely—if ever—is the pharmacist consulted, and almost never is a doctor called for such a common malady. But in Europe, consumers have been taught that pharmacists are an important source of health care information and they are likely to be consulted almost as frequently as a doctor, according to a new global study by The Nielsen Company.
 
Surveying more than 27,000 consumers in 54 countries, Nielsen has benchmarked the incidence of 17 common minor ailments—all of which can be treated with non-prescription medicines—as well as how consumers typically deal with them. Globally, respondents suffered from an average of almost four (3.9) such ailments in the last 12 months. The most common ailments: headaches, endured by 44% of respondents, followed by cold (38%) and cough (34%). A hearty 13% suffered from none of the 17 conditions listed...