Consumer front & centre
November 15, 2013
Putting the consumer “front
and centre” of discussions on
Australia’s future health system was
a key theme of the 2013 Australian
Self Medication Industry (ASMI)
Conference in Sydney yesterday.
ASMI urged all stakeholders,
industry, policy makers and
regulators, to remember why they
are there - to serve the consumer’s
needs.
“This conference has drawn an
array of local and international
speakers to share insights on the
modern-day health consumer in
the context of self care, healthcare
shopping habits, complementary
medicines, regulatory reform and
social media,” said ASMI Executive
Director Dr Deon Schoombie.
“Importantly, it has highlighted
some of the forces that are driving
quite dramatic changes to the
way that the consumer healthcare
industry does business and
interacts with consumers.”
Dr Schoombie also referred to
the new research partnership
with Macquarie University which
is helping ASMI to deepen its
understanding of consumer
behaviour in self care and
determine the economic value
of self care in contributing to a
sustainable healthcare system in
the future.
Professor Scott Koslow from
Macquarie University’s Faculty of
Business and Economics, said while
presenting early research findings,
that rather than forcing behavioural
change, the future healthcare
system should be built around
consumer’s current behaviour.
“Consumers apply their own
natural logic when they choose and
use non-prescription healthcare
products,” he said, “And given that
very distinct consumer segments
exist in the consumer healthcare
landscape a one-size-fits-all
approach isn’t going to work.”
Prof Koslow’s research included
eye-tracking technology that
revealed a consistent consumer
habit of focussing on the brand
as opposed to the technical and
scientific labelling.
A number of presenters continued
the theme of a need for a
sustainable regulatory framework
for complementary medicines
with an emphasis on preventative
medicine.
Labelling and packaging was also
placed under the microscope as a
priority ahead of the establishment
of ANZTPA in mid-2016, with a
determination to stage labelling
implementation to minimise
disruption by having only one set of
changes to meet the joint agency
requirements.
Other presenters included
Nathan Taylor, Chief Economist
from the Committee for Economic
Development of Australia (CEDA),
Leigh Shaw, Head of Shopper
Practice at Neilsen, Michael
Smith, Consultant and Senior
Fellow at the Samueli Institute,
international ‘switch’ expert Natalie
Gauld, Dr John Skerritt, National
Manager of the Therapeutic
Goods Administration, and Weber
Shandwick digital strategist Jye
Smith, who presented ASMI’s social
media guidelines (PD yesterday).
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 15 Nov 13To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 15 Nov 13
