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A recently published study from the Vividence Corporation finds an increasing number of consumers are using the Internet to get additional information about prescription drugs and the conditions they treat. The 500 consumers in the study panel were just as likely to go to the Web for information, as they were to ask their doctor.
Vividence provides customer experience management products and services and they do this by capturing and interpreting the behavior and attitudes of customers on the Web. In December 2001, the Vividence research team conducted an independent study of five leading pharmaceutical companies, examining both brand name drug sites and general medical Web sites. A panel of 500 consumers was selected to interact with these sites and every click of the mouse was tracked to determine which features are most likely to improve customer experience. The results of this study were reported in March 2002.
The Vividence study concluded that visits to a drug specific Web site increased the likelihood that a consumer will request a specific brand name medication from their physician. Thirtyeight percent of the consumers in the study stated, prior to visiting a product Web site, that they planned to request a specific prescription from their physician. However, after visiting the product site 72 percent said they would request the medication from...