Mobile apps are being embraced by a growing population of "Smartphone" users (an 8 percent increase in uptake in the last year). Consequently, use of healthcare-related apps will mirror this growth in the coming year, as consumers acclimate to "ambient healthcare," i.e., the implementation of the myriad digital, mobile and social tools available for health management.
The uptake in mobile communications is largely being driven by Smartphone usage. While only 27 percent of consumers polled have ever downloaded an app of any kind, this represented an 8 percent increase in usage from the previous year and the concentration of Smartphone users within this population was a full 67 percent. The overall number of consumers who stated they would be willing to use a mobile device to obtain health information also increased in the past year, from 37 to 48 percent.
Additional findings from this research include:
-- While only a small fraction of consumers have downloaded healthcare apps, approximately half of the total consumers and approximately three-fourths of Smartphone users expressed a willingness to do so
-- While the market penetration for healthcare apps remains quite low, 62 percent of those who have used one ranked their experience as positive
-- Of those willing to use mobile devices to capture healthcare info, 67 percent agreed that having available info on a mobile device would be helpful or improve the information's value
-- The majority of consumers discover apps by either browsing an "app store" or from recommendations by friends or family
-- Consumers trust doctors most of all for recommendations on health and wellness apps, followed by friends and family; they trust social networks least of all these options
-- The future is optimistic for mobile health and wellness apps--44 percent of Smartphone users surveyed expect to use more mobile health and wellness apps in the future
Comment from Marian Salzman, president, Euro RSCG Worldwide PR, North America: As recently as last month, even Wired magazine declared "The Web is dead." We know consumers are moving away from previously established Internet habits and gravitating toward mobile apps and social tools to drive their online experiences. Therefore, it makes sense that this trend would also extend to the way they collect and utilize health information online. Euro RSCG intends to be at the forefront of this new phase of communication.
Comment from said Larry Mickelberg, chief digital officer, Euro RSCG Life Worldwide: At Euro RSCG Life 4D, we constantly measure the current cultural mindset in order to advance the state of the art in the digital space. Last year, we listened to what consumers had to say about digital and social media with regard to health, and we presented those results to the FDA at their Part 15 hearing in November. This year, we took a deeper look at these communication patterns and found that mobile has the potential to become the primarily digital channel through which health information and support flows.
About the survey: Euro RSCG Life 4D conducted the online survey with MicoDialogue, a digital and social media research firm. Results are reported in a report entitled "Bigger Than DTC? The Promise of Mobile Health." The first in a new series of POVs from the agency, called "4Thought," the paper is available now for download at . The survey, which builds upon previous research conducted in October 2009, examined usage and uptake of mobile applications (or "apps") among a sample of 502 online users.
Contact: http://www.eurorscglife.com
Contact: http://www.eurorscglife.com/sites/default/files/u12/4THOUGHT.pdf
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