UM  > Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences
Residential Collegefalse
Status已發表Published
The Use of Microblog “Weibo” by Chinese Patent Medicine Companies in China
Song,Qirui1; Ung,Carolina Oi Lam1; Tang,Daisheng2; Hu,Hao1
2019-12-23
Source PublicationTherapeutic Innovation and Regulatory Science
ISSN2168-4790
Volume53Issue:4Pages:490-496
Abstract

Background: In order to introduce regulatory measures to regulate social media use by the Chinese patent medicine (CPM) companies, it needs better understanding of CPM companies’ promotional activities using social media. Thus, this study aimed to analyze the nature of the information conveyed to the public by the CPM companies through microblog (Weibo) in China. Methods: The content of 17 CPM Weibo accounts was analyzed. These accounts were established by 13 CPM companies, each of which had more than 10,000 followers, over 1000 posts and updated posts in 2016. Results: Of the 40,798 original posts identified in the 17 Weibo accounts, 98.39% (n = 40,142) were classified into 6 main themes: (1) social living (36%); (2) health science (26%); (3) health maintenance (14%); (4) direct product promotion (11%); (5) corporate branding (7%); and (6) medical and industrial information (6%). Among the posts directly related to product promotion, more than half (n = 2550) focused on customer interactions followed by product efficacy (n = 945). Among the posts about corporate branding, about half of them (n = 1,443) focused on company image. Conclusions: Weibo is being used by CPM companies widely for strategic product promotion. With one of the key strategies being overt marketing driven by covert marketing, a large amount of health-related information is disseminated through this platform. Regulatory policies to ensure the credibility of information disseminated in the social media used by the CPM companies for promotion purposes are warranted to help protect the public’s interests.

KeywordChina Chinese Patent Medicine Microblog Social Media Traditional Chinese Medicine Weibo
DOI10.1177/2168479018798799
URLView the original
Indexed BySCIE
WOS Research AreaMedical Informatics ; Pharmacology & Pharmacy
WOS SubjectMedical Informatics ; Pharmacology & Pharmacy
WOS IDWOS:000472182800010
Scopus ID2-s2.0-85059944246
Fulltext Access
Citation statistics
Document TypeJournal article
CollectionInstitute of Chinese Medical Sciences
Corresponding AuthorHu,Hao
Affiliation1.State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine,Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences,University of Macau,Macao
2.School of Economics and Management,Beijing Jiaotong University,Beijing City,China
First Author AffilicationInstitute of Chinese Medical Sciences
Corresponding Author AffilicationInstitute of Chinese Medical Sciences
Recommended Citation
GB/T 7714
Song,Qirui,Ung,Carolina Oi Lam,Tang,Daisheng,et al. The Use of Microblog “Weibo” by Chinese Patent Medicine Companies in China[J]. Therapeutic Innovation and Regulatory Science, 2019, 53(4), 490-496.
APA Song,Qirui., Ung,Carolina Oi Lam., Tang,Daisheng., & Hu,Hao (2019). The Use of Microblog “Weibo” by Chinese Patent Medicine Companies in China. Therapeutic Innovation and Regulatory Science, 53(4), 490-496.
MLA Song,Qirui,et al."The Use of Microblog “Weibo” by Chinese Patent Medicine Companies in China".Therapeutic Innovation and Regulatory Science 53.4(2019):490-496.
Files in This Item:
There are no files associated with this item.
Related Services
Recommend this item
Bookmark
Usage statistics
Export to Endnote
Google Scholar
Similar articles in Google Scholar
[Song,Qirui]'s Articles
[Ung,Carolina Oi Lam]'s Articles
[Tang,Daisheng]'s Articles
Baidu academic
Similar articles in Baidu academic
[Song,Qirui]'s Articles
[Ung,Carolina Oi Lam]'s Articles
[Tang,Daisheng]'s Articles
Bing Scholar
Similar articles in Bing Scholar
[Song,Qirui]'s Articles
[Ung,Carolina Oi Lam]'s Articles
[Tang,Daisheng]'s Articles
Terms of Use
No data!
Social Bookmark/Share
All comments (0)
No comment.
 

Items in the repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.