Ethical Generational Marketing Approach for Dental Patients
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14738/bjhmr.103.14572Keywords:
dental marketing, online marketing, dental marketing strategies, social media marketing, generational marketing, dental branding, digital marketing, ethics, generation z, generation x, millennials, generations, dental practice, sustainabilityAbstract
Dental marketing is one of the most challenging fields of marketing in the health field, due to the combination of dentistry science and business administration. Dentists, despite their medical occupation, are the leaders of their business and to succeed, they should use ethical marketing strategies avoiding patient’s deception. This narrative review analyses the current possible marketing strategies by identifying and exploiting existing opportunities; it also aims to demonstrate new approaches in dental marketing, which can be used to cope with the effects of the economic crisis, inflation, and after-Covid-19 market’s competition. In addition, it mentions the marketing techniques and the ways to approach every specific generation of dental patients to get maximum results. Generational marketing is not considered a complete strategy, but it’s relevant for marketers to understand their costumer’s perspectives. At the stage of planning, dentists should take into consideration the characteristics of the target generation and integrate the relevant method of approach into their marketing strategy. According to the generation features, there are specific techniques of ethical and legal approach, that can be included in marketing strategy to maximize efficiency. Moreover, dentists should never debase those characteristics, such as honesty and integrity, which are considered indisputable by people across all generations.
References
Ashford R, Blinkhorn AS. Marketing dental care to the reluctant patient, 1999 May 8;186(9):436-41
Katsaliaki K, Dovros M. Dental management Ó 2015, 32(2):236- 244
Devetziadou M, Antoniadou M. Branding in dentistry: a historical and modern approach to a new trend, 2020, 03(03), 051–068
Antoniadou M, Devetziadou M. Sensory Branding: a New Era in Dentistry, 2020 ISSN: 2641-1962
Casaglia A, De Dominicis P, Arcuri L, Gargari M, Ottria L. Dental photography today. Part 1: basic concepts, 2015 Oct-Dec; 8(4): 122–129
Wentworth R. What are the Ethical Issues I Need to Consider When Developing Marketing Strategies for My Practice? 2011 Aug;142(8):966-7
Parker J. Why discounting your dentistry makes it hard to build your dream practice March/April 2015 https://julieparkerpracticesuccess.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/ADPM-Article-Why-discountingyour-dentistry-makes-it-hard-to-build-your-dream-practice.pdf
Ulasewich J, Are C. Discounts Always the Best Way to Drive New Business? October 6, 202 https://dentistrytoday.com/are-discounts-always-the-best-way-to-drive-new-business/
Jim Higgins 3 strategies to attract millennials through dental patient relationship management Aug. 25, 2017 https://dentistryiq.com/practice-management/marketing/article/16365750/3-strategies-to-attractmillenials-through-dental-patient-relationship-management
Horsford S. 5 Genuine Ways to Make Your Dental Practice Gen Z Friendly Aug 19, 2022 https://blog.solsticebenefits.com/solstice-provider-blog/5-ways-to-attract-gen-z-dental-practice
Boltz K. Baby boomers and the ‘internet thing’: Marketing dental services to seniors March 1, 2020 https://dentaleconomics.com/practice/marketing/article/14169310/baby-boomers-and-the-internetthing-marketing-dental-services-to-seniors
Moore C. 10 Marketing Strategies for Generation X June 17,2022 https://heymarket.com/blog/marketing-togeneration-x/
Techtarget.com Generational marketing explained: Everything you need to know.www.techtarget.com/whatis/feature/Generational-marketing-explained-Everything-you-need-toknow
Morin A. Claire Gillespie What Americans Are Worrying About Right Now, From the Silent Generation to Gen Z October 08, 2021 https://www.verywellmind.com/what-americans-of-all-ages-are-worrying-about-rightnow-5202028
Fry R. Millennials overtake Baby Boomers as America’s largest generation. (April 8 2020) https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/04/28/millennials-overtake-baby-boomers-as-americaslargest-generation/
Taylor P, Gao G. Generation X: America’s neglected ‘middle child’ June 5, 2014 https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/06/05/generation-x-americas-neglected-middle-child/
Woo A. The Forgotten Generation: Let's Talk About Generation X. (Nov 14, 2018) https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2018/11/14/the-forgotten-generation-lets-talkabout-generation-x/?sh=267f725076d5
Betz C. Generations X, Y, and Z. (January 01, 2019) https://www.pediatricnursing.org/article/S0882-5963(18)30631-6/fulltext
Fry R, Parker K. Early Benchmarks Show ‘Post-Millennials’ on Track to Be Most Diverse, Best-Educated Generation Yet. (Nov 15, 2018) https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2018/11/15/earlybenchmarks-show-post-millennials-on-track-to-be-most-diverse-best-educated-generation-yet/
Chicca J, Shellenbarger T. Generation Z Approaches and Teaching–Learning Practices for Nursing Professional Development Practitioners 34(5):p 250-256, 9/10 2018. https://journals.lww.com/jnsdonline/Citation/2018/09000/Generation_Z__Approaches_and_Teaching_Learning.3.aspx
Gauri R. Generation Alpha Characteristics and Parenting Tips (July 16, 2020) https://parenting.firstcry.com/articles/generation-alpha-characteristics-and-parenting-tips/
ADA. American Dental Associations. https://ada.com
Darrin F. Philosophy of Value Selling (Jan 4, 2018) https://www.roi-selling.com/blog/aristotles-philosophyof-value-selling
Bennett Ν, Lemoine GJ. What VUCA Really Means for You. Harvard Business Review, January–February 2014. https://hbr.org/2014/01/what-vuca-really-means-for-you
Srinivas G. Be Less Aristotelian; The Marketing Industry Needs Value Experimentation Over Assumption Feb 22, 2021 https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/less-aristotelian-marketing-industry-needs-value-overgattamneni/
Shaw Brown G. After Gen Z, meet Gen Alpha. What to know about the generation born 2010 to today. Family. ABC News. (February 17, 2020). https://goodmorningamerica.com/family/story/gen-meet-gen-alphageneration-born-2010-today-68971965
Perano U. Meet Generation Alpha, the 9-year-olds shaping our future. Axios. (August 8, 2019). https://schoolfablab.com/meet-generation-alpha-the-9-year-olds-shaping-our-future/
Carter CM. The Complete Guide To Generation Alpha, The Children Of Millennials. Forbes. https://forbes.com/sites/christinecarter/2016/12/21/the-complete-guide-to-generation-alpha-thechildren-of-millennials/?sh=7ffa12963623
Lavelle D. Move over, millennials and Gen Z – here comes Generation Alpha. The Guardian. (January 4, 2019). https://www.theguardian.com/society/shortcuts/2019/jan/04/move-over-millennials-and-gen-z-herecomes-generation-alpha
Pinsker J. Oh No, They've Come Up With Another Generation Label. The Atlantic. (February 21, 2020) https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2020/02/generation-after-gen-z-named-alpha/606862/
Catchpole S. Move over Millennials, it's Generation Alpha's turn. Stuff. (June 21, 2019) https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/life/113667884/move-over-millennials-its-generation-alphas-turn
de Melo Simplício AH. Social media and Dentistry: ethical and legal aspects. Dental Press J Orthod. 2019 Nov-Dec;24(6):80-9
Ghandhi D, Bodani N, Lal A, Maqsood A, Ahmed N, Basha S, Assiry AA, Heboyan A, Karobari MI. Evaluation of Social Media Usage by Dental Practitioners of Pakistan for Professional Purposes - A Cross-Sectional Study. Clin Cosmet Investig Dent. 2022 Aug 10;14:245-252. doi: 10.2147/CCIDE.S374111.
Farsi D. Social Media and Health Care, Part I: Literature Review of Social Media Use by Health Care Providers. J Med Internet Res. 2021 Apr 5;23(4):e23205. doi: 10.2196/23205.
Nichols K, Pappas R. The #ethics behind social media influencers in dentistry. J Am Dent Assoc. 2022 Oct;153(10):1010-1011. doi: 10.1016/j.adaj.2022.07.008. Epub 2022 Aug 28.
Ventola CL. Social media and health care professionals: benefits, risks, and best practices. P T. 2014 Jul;39(7):491-520.
Kubheka BZ. Bioethics and the use of social media for medical crowdfunding. BMC Med Ethics. 2020 Oct 6;21(1):96. doi: 10.1186/s12910-020-00521-2.
Denecke K, Bamidis P, Bond C, Gabarron E, Househ M, Lau AY, Mayer MA, Merolli M, Hansen M. Ethical Issues of Social Media Usage in Healthcare. Yearb Med Inform. 2015 Aug 13;10(1):137-47. doi: 10.15265/IY-2015-001.
Decision of the case C-339/l5 according to the article 26 addressed on 4th May 2017 by the Nederlandstalige rechtbank van eerste aanleg te Brussel, strafzaken. Retrieved by Attica Dental Association, Greece.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Sergi, V. , Liakopoulou, E., Fotou, F., Leonidou, V., Prountzos, G., Antoniadou, M.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.