The eHealth Market in Japan: Optimizing eHealth Tools for Reaching Consumers

Introduction

The Internet is becoming a major source of healthcare and treatment information in Japan. In fact, Datamonitor research shows that surveyed consumers in Japan spend the most time online compared to surveyed consumers in the US and Europe. Regional and personal factors have contributed to consumers’ high adoption of the Internet and have created new demands for online tools and services.

Scope

• Evaluation of the current online behavior of consumers in Japan
• Assessment of key trends that will affect how the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry in Japan communicates with consumers
• Identification of key opportunities in the Japanese eHealth market, focusing on websites, online disease management and online health communities
• Recommendations on how to effectively reach consumers in Japan by taking advantage of current market opportunities

Highlights

Health topics researched by caregivers in Japan vary significantly from the health topics researched by non-caregivers. Pharmaceutical companies can address caregivers’ specific needs by designing caregiver-specific websites that include links to disease information and links to online health forums.

Pharmaceutical companies can take advantage of consumers’ high use of mobile solutions in Japan to provide them with online disease management tools, possibly in the form of text message reminders, which are in high demand.

Moderated online forums can be a useful marketing tool for pharmaceutical companies to learn more about a targeted consumer audience, and also present an opportunity to build relationships with those consumers.

Reasons to Purchase

• Identify factors that influence the online behavior of consumers in Japan
• Recognize the opportunity to reach consumers in Japan by providing them with disease management and compliance tools via mobile solutions
• Understand consumers’ demands for online forums and take advantage of the opportunity to provide them with the tools they require

ABOUT DATAMONITOR 2
CHAPTER 1 SCOPE OF THIS REPORT 6
The eHealth Market in Japan: Optimizing eHealth tools for reaching consumers focuses on how pharmaceutical companies can take advantage of consumers’ demands for online tools and services to reach current and potential consumers of their products in Japan. 6
CHAPTER 2 ACTION POINTS 8
Datamonitor recommends that pharmaceutical companies design caregiver-specific websites that focus on disease information and provide access to formulary lists and clinical trial websites in Japanese. 8
Datamonitor recommends that pharmaceutical companies increase investments in online disease management and compliance tools in Japan since demand is high and because consumer adoption of mobile solutions that can enable such services is also high. 9
Datamonitor recommends that pharmaceutical companies increase investments in moderated online health communities and online forums as market research and relationship building tools for consumers in Japan. 9
CHAPTER 3 CONSUMERS’ ONLINE BEHAVIOR IN JAPAN 11
Internet penetration in Japan is relatively high compared to EU countries, but lags behind the US 11
Number of hours consumers in Japan spend online looking for health information 12
Most surveyed consumers in Japan have access to the Internet from home 14
Caregivers and non-caregivers alike search health information online mainly for themselves 15
Surveyed consumers in Japan search for non-chronic, non-life threatening conditions most regularly 16
Health topics researched by surveyed caregivers vs. non-caregivers vary greatly 17
Offline sources of information accessed regularly by consumers in Japan include television, magazines and newspapers 19
Search engine preferences are pronounced amongst surveyed consumers in Japan 21
Consumers in Japan show the largest proportion of those consumers not accessing US-targeted websites 22
Most surveyed consumers in Japan are attracted to a website if 23
Factors that deter consumers in Japan from visiting a website are primarily security and privacy of personal information concerns 25
Mobile solutions are gaining ground amongst consumers in Japan, and for email mobile devices are becoming the norm 27
Surveyed consumers in Japan use their mobile phones to receive prescription or medication reminders as well as to schedule doctor’s appointments 28
Concerns about security of information is the main obstacle for mobile use adoption by consumers in Japan 29
CHAPTER 4 EHEALTH OPPORTUNITIES IN JAPAN 30
Online forums and online health communities 30
Clinical trials and clinical trial websites 34
Disease management and compliance tools 37
CHAPTER 5 THE FUTURE DECODED 41
Caregiver-specific websites 41
Caregivers and non-caregivers rank attractive features to a website differently 42
Schematic of an ideal website with links to disease information and online forums 43
Disease management and compliance tools 44
Online health communities 45
CHAPTER 6 APPENDIX 47
List of Figures 47
Research methodology 50
2004 eHealth Consumer Insight Survey 50
2005 eHealth Consumer Insight Survey 50
References and future readings 51
SPP writing team 51
How to contact experts in your industry 52