S&R Blog

For new pharmaceutical products, the impact of marketing communication on creating awareness and adoption by physicians has been well documented. Similarly, the importance of word-of-mouth interaction has been well recognized in consumer adoption behavior. However, what effect does peer influence, such as the adoption and usage of a new drug by 1 physician, have on other physicians in a close geographic
area?

In a recent study, researchers from the business schools at the University of Chicago, the University of Washington, and Rutgers University studied this question during the launch of a new drug in New York City (Manhattan) and Indianapolis. They created a “contagion” model that measured the adoption behavior of physicians located near each other for each physician in the target audience. While their research confirmed the importance of marketing communication, particularly early on in the launch, it also demonstrated that “contagion” (their surrogate for “word-of-mouth”) had a pronounced impact within 4 months of the launch.