Professional Emotions and Persuasion: Tapping Non-Rational Drivers in Health-Care Market Research

Abstract

Marketing to health-care professionals has traditionally focused on developing rational arguments based on the product's attributes to persuade the health-care professional of that product's unique benefits. However, the broader body of research on persuasion has pointed to the importance of ‘non-rational’ aspects, such as emotion and the values held by the individual who is the target of persuasion. We first outline the role of the non-rational in persuasion, providing a very brief review of some of the major persuasion theories/research that have examined the role of emotions and other non-rational influences. We then provide an overview of qualitative research techniques that are valuable in uncovering non-rational drivers of product choice and can be utilised to establish branding based on more than just product attributes, especially in markets where products are relatively undifferentiated, based on their clinical properties alone.