Less-Trusted Channels Have Growing Influence on Patients’ Health Opinions: Report

Pharma media strategy must adapt to the new channels through which patients and doctors are gathering health information—and where trust is still lacking—a new report suggests. 

Syneos Health Communications tapped the Harris Poll to survey more than 1,500 U.S. consumers and 200 primary care physicians. The resulting report found that consumers are increasingly getting their health news and analysis from influencers and emerging media channels, much to doctors’ chagrin. 

The survey defined emerging media as social and digital channels like social media, video content, podcasts, independent digital newsletters and discussion sites, in contrast to traditional media sources like TV news, newspapers and legacy news websites. Of the surveyed consumers, around three-quarters said they use emerging media specifically for health information “sometimes” or “often,” while 54% said the same about social and video platforms. 

After taking in health content from emerging media, about a quarter of consumers said they’ve changed an opinion and around one-third said it’s made them more confident in their opinions. Many go on to share the content (35%) or discuss it with others (41%), and nearly 30% said they were subsequently influenced to purchase a product or service. 

That increased reliance comes even as patients and PCPs alike reported lower trust in emerging media. Across the board, when asked about their perceptions of bias in about a dozen channels, consumers were less likely to...