An investigation of male attitudes toward marketing communications from dental service providers

Objective To identify the process by which males aged 25-34 who do not display regular attendance behaviour are exposed to, attend, comprehend and are persuaded by communications by general dental practitioners. Design Focus groups (of 1 hour duration) comprising 6-7 members, conducted over a period of 18 months, discussing five open-ended questions or statements. Setting The Manchester Metropolitan University, Crewe+Alsager Faculty, Cheshire, UK during 1995-96. Subjects 116 non-attending males (aged between 25-34 years) taken from professional lecturers (17%), full-time (50%) and part-time students (33%) with varying income and education levels. Interventions A theoretical linear-sequential model related to patient behaviour was considered in relation to the timing of communications but this was not tested. Main outcome measures Views of group members concerning their attitudes, perceptions and experience of communications from GDPs. Results Informative oral communications were considered as important during treatment. Most written communications were cited as impersonal, health posters were perceived as negative being targeted at children only, general media articles on dentistry were not very evident or interesting, however, a practice brochure was viewed as a handy communication tool. Conclusions General dental practitioners should look carefully at all of their own methods of communication with patients (from oral to written) and consider the value of their marketing and all areas of communications, especially when considering nonattenders and males (aged 25-34).