Tablets Dominating Laptops among Pharma Reps in Top European Markets

Tablets are now a mainstream feature of pharma sales rep-physician meetings in the EU5, according to the latest Taking the Pulse^® Europe study from healthcare market research and advisory firm Manhattan Research. Among online physicians in Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the UK who met with a pharma rep in person in the past year, 72 percent have seen one with a tablet, compared with 44 percent seeing one with a laptop.

However, the study indicates that there is ample opportunity for pharma to improve the effectiveness of tablet rep interactions. For example, only one in five EU physicians who have seen a tablet rep categorize these meetings as excellent and less than one-quarter are more likely to prescribe the product discussed in the meeting as a result.

"Tablet reps are now commonplace in the EU, however these devices are not being used optimally during rep-physician meetings," said James Avallone, Director of Physician Research at Manhattan Research. "With rapid deployment accomplished, it is critical for brands to shift their focus to creating high quality tablet initiatives from both a content and user-experience perspective in order to impact physician prescription decisions."   

The Taking the Pulse^® Europe study and strategic advisory service is focused on helping healthcare marketers understand the digital and mobile profile of European physicians and how they interact with pharma, and on identifying multichannel marketing opportunities for this key audience. The study provides a macro level view of overall European physician digital trends as well as in-depth analysis of Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the UK.

The study also found that tablet rep prevalence varies significantly by country. For example, tablet reps are most prominent in Spain, with 85 percent of physicians who met in person with a pharma sales rep in the past year having seen tablet reps, compared with 65 percent of their French counterparts. "This large disparity country-to-country underlines how important it is for marketers to take into account market-specific differences when planning tablet rep and other digital promotional initiatives," said Avallone.

About Taking the Pulse^® Europe 2013 Taking the Pulse^® Europe is Manhattan Research's annual market research study and syndicated advisory service focused on how physicians in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom use the Internet, digital media, mobile devices and other technologies for professional purposes, pharma communication and patient interaction. The data can be segmented across a variety of target specialist audiences, including PCPs, pediatricians, cardiologists, oncologists, gastroenterologists and OB/GYNs. For more information, please visit www.manhattanresearch.com/ttpeu.