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How Every Woman in Oral Health Can Make a Difference |
What marketing techniques encourage women to seek health care services, in cluding oral health care services? Is marketing products and services different for men and women? Are there differences in marketing products and services to women and women health professionals? Unfortunately, there is little published data in the health care literature to shed light on these questions. While for years corporations have conducted marketing research to answer these specific questions, little is available to the average practitioner.
This article is divided into three sections. The first summarizes current thinking on the impact of gender on marketing health services. The second outlines marketing techniques that are especially useful in reaching women. The third provides suggestions on how to use a popular marketing strategy—branding—to improve one’s own standing in the workplace.
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Marketing Health Care Services: The Role of Gender |
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 Top Marketing health care services:... Marketing techniques especially...Creating a brand identity...Personal brand characteristicsPersonal brand authenticityThe courage to live...References |
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For example, female hormonal fluctuations associated with puberty, menses, pregnancy, use of contraceptives, and menopause cause changes in gingival and periodontal tissues.3,4 Cleft palate occurs more often in females.1,2 Women are twice as likely to report orofacial pain and nine times as likely to have Sjögren’s syndrome.1,2 And women are more susceptible to eating disorders and more aware of self-image.3 Men, on the other hand, are more likely to have 6 mm loss of attachment, are more than 2.6 times as likely to have oropharyngeal cancer, and have higher rates of emergency room visits for head and neck trauma.1,2
Men and women also differ in their traditional societal role. While these roles are rapidly changing, women are still usually the family caregivers. Of the over 80 million baby boomers, many are finding themselves part of the "sandwich generation," as they are responsible not only for their children but for their parents and sometimes grandparents as well. Ninety percent of women say they are the primary decision makers for all health-care related decisions. Seventy-five percent of inpatient and outpatient visits are by women of childbearing age and their children.5 Women account for 60 percent of physician and dentist visits, 60 percent of prescription drug usage, and 75 percent of nursing home residents.5,6
Different researchers have come to different conclusions about the role of gender in demand for dental care. A study by Rutsohn and Ibrahim in 2000 found that gender was insignificant and does not influence demand for care,7 so those authors concluded there was no need to develop gender-specific strategies although a differentiation strategy would not threaten patient volume. Another study, by Lois Cohen, found that more women believe that oral health is important (89 percent vs. 80 percent), more are concerned about cavities (35 percent vs. 24 percent), more are concerned about TMJ/TMD (7 percent vs. 2 percent), and more mention lack of insurance as the reason for not visiting a dentist (32 percent vs. 11 percent).2
Overall, it is a generally accepted belief that since women are more concerned about their oral health and have oral health needs that are different from men’s, a different marketing strategy could be more effective for them.
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Marketing Techniques Especially Useful for Women |
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TopMarketing health care services:...Marketing techniques especially...Creating a brand identity...Personal brand characteristicsPersonal brand authenticityThe courage to live...References |
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For female market segments, a marketer needs to understand female values. These values include placing a greater emphasis on relationships, personal contacts, and a sense of belonging.5 Men on the other hand place greater emphasis on product attributes.8 Women tend to multitask, so they need a straightforward message, one that is not condescending and one that does not underestimate their sophistication. Women are usually the healthcare "keepers" in their families; it is generally not about themselves but about their families.
Evidence of these factors is reinforced by research performed on health plan choice. For men, selection is often based upon price, whereas for women, plan choice is based upon value and ability of the plan to provide the tools and information required to make better-informed health care choices.5
With regard to sources of information, men and women are also often different. While both males and females ask the opinions of other dentists and health care professionals, elderly females are more likely to use radio commercials, newspaper ads, yellow page ads, and TV commercials.9
As women value relationships, surveys and questionnaires can create a sense of importance for their opinions, and community events can provide an opportunity for sharing information. It is also felt that retention, loyalty, referral, and reward programs can create long-term relationships. For working women trying to balance careers and home, many may prefer brown bag lunch seminars, which makes efficient use of time, along with on-demand sources of information (such as the Internet).5 Women are also interested in making sure their families are accommodated. In deciding upon a women or children’s hospital, women look for accommodations for family members, such as schools, parks, rooming-in capabilities, and laundry room facilities.
Many of the values, attributes, and characteristics described above also pertain to professional women. Time is precious to these women because of their combined family and professional obligations. Interactions thus need to be as personalized as possible, and relationships need to be developed over time. Professional women do not want to be patronized or spoken to in a condescending way. They want to be treated differently but with equal respect.8
Advertisers in the 1970s did not understand these principles. In a study of 423 advertisements in medical journals, women were typically shown as being emotional, irrational, and complaining. Men, on the other hand, were portrayed as being non-emotional, rational, and stoic. In relating illness symptoms, ads often reflected emotional illness for women, while for men, they reflected organic illnesses.6
With regard to professionals portrayed in the advertisements, no physicians were female, but all nurses were female. Symptoms of female patients seemed to frequently be presented with a clever play on words, such as a librarian saying, "Last week I felt woozy in fiction," or a bride talking about "when diarrhea rings the wedding bells." Female medical problems were oftentimes shown causing irritations to others as reflected in the text of one ad that stated, "Treat one; six people benefit." Or in the case of another ad, which showed a wooden chair in an office with its back and arms fading into the head and hands of a woman with a caption "Is this patient becoming a fixture in your office?" Men, however, were portrayed in a very unemotional manner as in an ad for a tranquilizer showing a distinguished-looking, gray-haired man with a caption "sick, and worried sick."6
A clothing shopping analogy illustrates differences in professional men and women’s approaches to seeking products and services. Generally, men like to buy almost the first thing they see and are very selective processors in deciding what to buy. Women, on the other hand, generally like to comparison shop. Their evaluation process is critical for decision-making. How a product washes and wears will determine whether they will buy it. Only when two items are equal does price matter.8 While men are selective processors of information, women tend to be comprehensive processors of information.10,11
In summary, women tend to do more research about products. This includes investigating both the pros and cons. They want up-to-date information but do not want patient contact time to be spent with product representatives. They prefer full information from credible sources that can be reviewed in their own time, and women are interested in the incremental benefit, or value added, of the product.
Product representatives need to think in terms of what could make a woman’s life easier. Many women need to reconcile concerns of family and career, as it is often difficult to mesh family life with rigorous professional careers. Many will decline to attend dinner or overnight meetings because of family concerns.8 Thus corporations need to develop innovative ways to provide women with access to their services in a manner that allows easier integration into her personal life. These mechanisms may include teleconferences, home study using CD/video/ audio, or on-demand online capabilities.
When conducting day or overnight programs, organizers need to allow families to come along in a causal environment. Services, such as childcare and other activities, may need to be provided, as women will often attend a program as long as they know their family is well-cared for.8
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Creating a Brand Identity as a Tool for Women Professionals |
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TopMarketing health care services:...Marketing techniques especially...Creating a brand identity...Personal brand characteristicsPersonal brand authenticityThe courage to live...References |
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In some cases there is a gap between perception and reality—between the "real you" and the you other people see and interact with, at work, at home, in the community. You’re not getting as much credit as you think you should for who you really are and what you believe in. Businesses deal with this dilemma constantly, and their most successful response tends to focus on one key concept: brand.
Brand is how businesses tell their customers what to expect. Things can change rapidly in the business world, and customers are more comfortable if they know what to expect. Brand is a familiar route to long-term and mutually beneficial relationships. Brand embodies what businesses and their customers value, the means through which businesses get credit for the quality they represent.
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Personal Brand Characteristics |
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TopMarketing health care services:...Marketing techniques especially...Creating a brand identity...Personal brand characteristicsPersonal brand authenticityThe courage to live...References |
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Brands are distinctive: they have a point of view. As your beliefs may not be shared with another, standing up for and holding to them is often a courageous act. Brands are also relevant: what they stand for connects to what someone else considers important. You gain brand strength every time you demonstrate relevance, focus on customers, and are relevant to them. What do they want, what do they need, what do they value, what do they expect? Finally, brands are consistent: people come to believe in a relationship based on consistency of behaviors they experience or observe. Whether it’s the Big Mac or Ritz-Carlton type of consistency, there is an immediate emotional connection.
Personal brand decisions equal brand equity. There are three dimensions of personal brand equity. First, brand equity defines your brand competencies. This brand dimension refers to the basic nature of the relationship and the things you need to do capably just to meet someone’s basic expectations. What role do you play for another? Boss, teacher, dentist, friend, mentor, daughter? In the case of work or career, your credentials are your competencies, and they play an important core role in your brand equity, usually remaining constant over time. Change is typically progressive and incremental. The competencies are your baseline reason you are who you are and the reason for the relationship. Remember that regardless of how you assess your competencies to do something for someone, in the final analysis, it’s the customer who sets the perception of the competencies for you. You cannot control perceptions, but you can guide people to see you as you should be seen.
Second, personal brand equity establishes your brand standards. This focuses on the way you deliver competencies. Our brand standard is the level of performance that we are willing to adhere to consistently. Standards evolve greater precision and accuracy. Consequently, even though your competencies in a given area may be the same as others, your brand standards help you stand out!
The third dimension in this model is the manner in which we communicate and interact with others: our brand style. This involves how we personalize our competencies within the context of our performance standards. It’s not just the first impression, but the result of repeated contacts with others.
If establishing brand standards is how you do it, style is how you relate. These are strong emotional descriptors: friendly, easygoing, intense, aggressive, professional, energetic, controlling.
A strong personal brand does not mean you need to appeal to everyone. Just as businesses do, you can target your brand to specific relationships. A brand is not a product of advertising; it is not packaging or outward experiences. A great brand has equity because you can cut through the external trappings and see the value in associating with it.
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Personal Brand Authenticity |
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TopMarketing health care services:...Marketing techniques especially...Creating a brand identity...Personal brand characteristicsPersonal brand authenticityThe courage to live...References |
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A personal brand manifesto or strategy has three key elements: dimension, platform, and promise. The dimension is a combination of competency, standards, and style. Your brand platform is the single dominant characteristic of your personal brand dimensions. Your brand promise is a concise, meaningful, and inspiring statement developed from brand dimensions and driven by brand platform. The promise sums up the impact the relationship with you will have on someone else.
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Now to align your tactics with your brand promise and dimensions, you need to do brand measurement and refine and build your brand. In our business, this is comparable to the market research we do to check if our brand is delivering what we want it to. It is also a means to engender new definitions to strengthen the brand, and it may renew competencies we need to add to the brand to make it more competitive, like adding whitening to the standard anticaries toothpaste brand.
Behavioral scientists know about the human personality variables as a starting point using these to describe brands with which they were familiar. Think about the way the automobile industry creates emotion-laden images so that you will feel what it is like to drive their car. So what emotional payoff do your customers derive from you?
Brands reflect values, your inner dimensions; in turn, these dimensions can be used as a yardstick to measure yourself and make adjustments. Your personal brand may reflect a random pattern that sometimes succeeds and sometimes does not. If your brand is not succeeding, your behavior may look as if there is no design for distinctiveness or relevancy in what you are trying to be; your brand may show no consistency in how others should manage the interactions involved in the relationship. In essence, your brand shows no promise of value at the heart of the relationship.
To learn how to refine and improve your personal brand, ask some people you know well to describe what words or phrases they would use to describe your dominant brand values or style. If it is being successful, their perception should correlate with your most prized values.
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The Courage to Live Your Brand |
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TopMarketing health care services:...Marketing techniques especially...Creating a brand identity...Personal brand characteristicsPersonal brand authenticityThe courage to live...References |
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Your brand contains an implicit promise. Expressed well, it has applications across a broad spectrum and can be tailored to the specifics of each relationship. In business, the brand promises are only a foundation and will be tested—and accepted or rejected—by the intended audience. Customers spend their money for the product. If the product doesn’t deliver on its promise, sales decline. The same holds true in the personal brand context, your brand promise sums up what you are committed to being and doing on behalf of your "customers" because it needs to connect to the "real you" and reflect values meaningfully.
Your brand promise may be silently expressed to your customers at work and home. But being clear about your brand promise reminds you why your work is important and what your responsibilities are to other members of your team. For example:
It is also important to link your brand promise with your employer’s brand or corporate identity. The institution’s core values, competencies, and mission statements should be reflected in your brand promise. Think about these questions: Whom do I work for? Whose life is impressed because of what I do and how I do it? How far do the ripple effects spread from my efforts? Stopping and thinking about where your work goes and to whom it is important can make all the difference between feeling powerful or powerless, productive or pointless, invaluable or invisible.
Brand moments are the times when your unique combination of competencies, standards, and style will be tested. These moments literally dramatize the important dimensions of your brand in ways that add memorable clarity to the ways you make and keep promises and commitments.
When you have a strong brand, you attract allies. The people to whom your brand matters will be drawn to it and will support you. Then, all will benefit.
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Footnotes |
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REFERENCES |
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TopMarketing health care services:...Marketing techniques especially...Creating a brand identity...Personal brand characteristicsPersonal brand authenticityThe courage to live...References |
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| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
