Not quite fluent on texting yet?
Kids are according to today’s research released by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
What stood out to me is that cell phone texting “has become the preferred channel of basic communication between teens and their friends …”
From February 2008 to September 2009:
- Texting rose from 38% of teens to 54%.
That’s a bigger jump than:
- Calls on cell phones (36 to 38%)
- Talk face-to-face (31 to 33%)
- Social networking sites (21 to 25%)
Even more remarkable is that the following categories actually declined:
- Instant Messaging (28 to 24%)
- E-mail (14 to 11%)
- Talk on landline (39 to 30%)
While it’s not news to parents of teenage girls, some marketers of women’s products might find it interesting to learn that teenage girls “typically send and receive 80 texts a day,” according to the Pew findings.
What’s it mean for pharma?
Lots, but mostly that an entire generation is growing up with texting as main means of communication. Since 75% of 12-17 year-olds now own cell phones (up from 45% in 2004, according to Pew), and it cuts across all demographics, there’s a significant number of consumers who communicate primarily using this medium.
Can any brand manager targeting that demographic ignore that?
Can any brand manager targeting that generation a few years from now ignore that?
We don’t think so.
In a report issued yesterday, the Pew Internet & American Life project uncovered some more bad news for people living with chronic disease:
Not only do they often have complicated health issues, not easily solved by the addition of even the best, most reliable, medical advice. They are also disproportionately offline – lacking access to both the knowledge and support so many of us turn to the internet for.
The numbers are jarring. 81% of people with no chronic conditions are online vs. only 52% of people with two or more conditions.
The issue of lack of equitable access is made even more complex by changes in physician behavior. Doctors increasingly rely on the internet to supplement their patients’ knowledge and understanding. Last year, Manhattan Research reported that 58% of physicians recommend specific websites to their patients (not suprisingly, WebMD is at the top of their list).
There is some good news. Once people with chronic diseases do go online they are more likely to blog or participate in online discussions about health problems. They are gathering on big patient networking sites like PatientsLikeMe, HealthCentral, Inspire, CureTogether and Alliance Health Networks, and on small sites started by patients on networks like Ning and Wetpaint. They’re more active contributors in that health space – both about the personal issues associated with their condition and specific health problems.
People with chronic diseases are often more inspired than others by the information they found. The report includes verbatims like these: one person wrote, “[An] online support group helped me learn about the disease and provided comfort in knowing that my symptoms were not ‘just in my head,’ and helped me take steps to adjust to living with a chronic condition.” Another shared, “I live in a small town and it is helpful to be able to use the internet to find others that have the same condition as I do.”
Getting patients access to this kind of support can be life changing. The opportunity to do that can come from both sides of the equatation:
- More access: Through, for example, internet devices in waiting rooms
- More interest: A clearer picture for offline patients about what resources and tools they’ll find (specific to their disease state) online
