Abstract:

Health services are intangible products, which need marketing strategies to optimize benefits to the individuals, families and the community. Like every product, tangible or intangible, an optimum marketing mix involving pricing, product quality, product promotion and product packaging or merchandising, can improve consumer satisfaction and their patronage of health products and services. Apart from training of trainers’ programs and specialized health education programs, the audience for a health service is generally heterogeneous, uncontrolled and diverse. There is a need for marketing research in order to select or segment an audience so that health services and products can be, designed in such a way that they are, affordable, accessible, comprehensible, user-friendly and attractive to consumers. Research must be targeted at defining community needs and perspectives while messages concerning health services and products must have clearly defined objectives. In addition, expected benefits from the health products and services must be clearly stated to the target audience. However, marketing policies should be implemented against the background of the humanitarian nature of health services and fundamental human rights.

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