Manhattan Research’s ePharma Consumer® study explores the diverse media mix of consumers online for pharma info, including insights on treatment adherence and drug spending and assistance

January 13, 2011, New York, NY – The ePharma Consumer population continues to grow, boosted in part by the increase in the number of older consumers using the Internet in recent years. In 2010, 112 million or 48% of U.S. adults were ePharma Consumers, or individuals online for pharma information – up from 55 million consumers in 2005.

Pharmaceutical and healthcare market research company Manhattan Research’s new ePharma Consumer® v10.0 study explores the diverse online media and technology mix of this segment as it relates to pharma information seeking. This year’s research also includes a focus on two key pharma issues for 2011 – treatment adherence and drug spending and assistance – and offers metrics for hundreds of pharma product websites.

The study found that most consumers online for pharma information take health-related action after their online research, and they are more likely to discuss the information with their doctor rather than to make treatment decisions on their own. General health websites are the top online pharma resources in terms of reach and influence, but the research also shows that pharma websites are critical secondary resources that play an important role during the prescription drug research continuum. Consumers are considerably more likely to use pharma product and corporate websites for prescription drug information than government websites, pharmacy websites, patient association websites, and social media sources.

“Product websites are still valued destinations despite the dominance of general health websites,” said Monique Levy, Vice President of Research at Manhattan Research. “More ePharma Consumers use them for pharmaceutical information than social media sources for example, and their visitors represent an action-oriented, high-value group.”

Questions Covered in ePharma Consumer® v10.0:

• How is the ePharma Consumer segment evolving and how much does it use and trust pharma websites?
• What situations and sources are driving consumers online to search for pharma info and what is the ePharma Consumer digital media mix?
• How strong is demand for adherence tools and services?
• To what degree are consumers leveraging the Internet to lower drug spending?
• What type of content and features do ePharma Consumers seek on product websites and which product websites are successful?

Complimentary ePharma Consumer® Data Snapshot
If you’d like to download a complimentary one-page snapshot of data and insights from the ePharma Consumer® v10.0 study, please visit http://www.manhattanresearch.com/research/data-snapshots/epharma-consumer-data-snapshot.aspx.

About ePharma Consumer® v10.0
ePharma Consumer® v10.0 was fielded online in Q4 2010 among 6,606 U.S. adults (ages 18+) who have gone online for pharma or prescription drug information in the past 12 months. For more information, please email http://www.manhattanresearch.com/epc.