Sign up for our daily briefing
Make your busy days simpler with Axios AM/PM. Catch up on what's new and why it matters in just 5 minutes.
Stay on top of the latest market trends
Subscribe to Axios Markets for the latest market trends and economic insights. Sign up for free.
Sports news worthy of your time
Binge on the stats and stories that drive the sports world with Axios Sports. Sign up for free.
Tech news worthy of your time
Get our smart take on technology from the Valley and D.C. with Axios Login. Sign up for free.
Get the inside stories
Get an insider's guide to the new White House with Axios Sneak Peek. Sign up for free.
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Want a daily digest of the top Denver news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Denver
Want a daily digest of the top Des Moines news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Des Moines
Want a daily digest of the top Twin Cities news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Twin Cities
Want a daily digest of the top Tampa Bay news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Tampa Bay
Want a daily digest of the top Charlotte news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Charlotte
The health care industry saw a 70% increase in marketing over past 20 years. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
The health care industry spends roughly $30 billion per year on marketing, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. That’s about a 70% increase over the past 20 years.
By the numbers: Marketing to doctors makes up the biggest share of promotional spending, but direct-to-consumer advertising is growing the fastest. And pharmaceutical companies are by far the biggest spenders.
- Drug companies spent $20 billion on marketing to health care professionals in 2016, mostly to provide free samples of their products.
- Pharma companies spent another $6 billion on marketing to consumers.
- The number of ads has also skyrocketed. Drug companies paid for 4.6 million total ads, including 663,000 TV commercials, in 2016, up from just 79,000 total ads in 1997.
- Hospitals, clinics and other health providers spent a total of roughly $3 billion on direct-to-consumer advertising.
Why it matters: Some critics don’t believe direct-to-consumer drug advertising should even be legal (the U.S. and New Zealand are the only countries that allow it), and those billions are baked into the prices we pay for drugs, hospital care and other services.
- Realistically, though, there’s no reason to expect promotional spending to slow down, especially as the pharmaceutical industry shifts toward more expensive biological therapies. Those drugs are already making up a bigger share of all industry advertising, according to the paper.
Go deeper: Your fever could lead to targeted marketing