Brand communication in healthcare sector: A study based on social media

There are a few industries that Turkey does not have commercial success. One of these sectors is the healthcare sector. Compared to the global success of other sectors, it cannot be said that the expected value is generated in the healthcare sector. One of the most important reasons is that the necessary importance has not been given to branding. Turkey's absence in the world's most valuable 500 brands is the biggest indicator of this neglect. However, Turkey has the potential to generate global brands in many industries, and healthcare is one of these sectors. On the other hand, generating a brand is impossible without realizing a sufficient level and certain quality of communication events. Based on these facts, the present study focused on branding of communication in the healthcare industry. In this respect, how brand communication is being carried out and what kinds of communication tools are being used during this process was studied. In this regard, the use and organization of social media tools for brand communication operations in the healthcare industry, their importance in this process, and presenting whether they contribute to brand-based communication approach are the main concern of the study. In this social media-oriented study, the opinions of various stake holders in the healthcare sector (hospital managers, doctors, academics, purchasing specialists, distributors, and medical device manufacturers, etc.) were gathered through semi-structured in-depth interviews. The ideas on branding dynamics of the sector, approaches to branding communication, social media habits, and new media communication technology were analyzed and demonstrated with phenomenological approach via qualitative analysis software, MAXQDA. The data of the study pointed out that the actors in the healthcare industry are far from the understanding of being brand-oriented and are not aware of the importance of brand. In addition, this study revealed that the stakeholders in the healthcare sector lack the necessary information about brand management on social media.