Medical Marketing

Abstract

Medical marketing is a long‐lived and multimillion‐dollar industry, but also a much disputed one. Among the presently highly disputed domains is the marketing of medical tests and screenings. A second much debated domain is the marketing of diseases, such as “low T,” to boost the sales of products and services for the treatment of the relevant disease. The marketing of medical treatments is a third domain attracting much public debate, with the promotion of frontier‐tech therapies and cosmetic surgery as noticeable examples. Empirical research on the effects of medical marketing campaigns on individuals or society is essentially scant, but criticism especially targets the – presumed – effects on overtreatment, wasted resources, and an overall medicalized society. Alternative views, on the other hand, highlight the contributions that medical marketing can make to innovation and patient empowerment.