Residential College | false |
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 Publication | Therapeutic Innovation and Regulatory Science |
ISSN | 2168-4790 |
Volume | 53Issue: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. |
Keyword | China Chinese Patent Medicine Microblog Social Media Traditional Chinese Medicine Weibo |
DOI | 10.1177/2168479018798799 |
URL | View the original |
Indexed By | SCIE |
WOS Research Area | Medical Informatics ; Pharmacology & Pharmacy |
WOS Subject | Medical Informatics ; Pharmacology & Pharmacy |
WOS ID | WOS:000472182800010 |
Scopus ID | 2-s2.0-85059944246 |
Fulltext Access | |
Citation statistics | |
Document Type | Journal article |
Collection | Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences |
Corresponding Author | Hu,Hao |
Affiliation | 1.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 Affilication | Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences |
Corresponding Author Affilication | Institute 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. |
Items in the repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.
Edit Comment