Health Communication and Integrated Corporate Social Responsibility

Health communication has experienced a revival in the twenty-first century, which has been labeled the “health communication renaissance”. At the same time, public concern regarding social causes is on the rise. In response, pharmaceutical marketers have begun to publicly proclaim their support for social and environmental causes. Due to declining public trust in their products as well as their commercial messages for these products, together with increasing legal restrictions, pharmaceutical marketers are being forced to rethink their business and promotional strategies. Consumers’ roles have changed as well; today’s “new consumers” are more skeptical and demanding, renowned for rewarding corporations for their sustainable and future-oriented projects, while punishing those who fail to engage in them. This chapter examines whether corporate social responsibility (CSR) appeals—defined as socially and/or environmentally-oriented efforts promoted as part of corporations’ advertising messages—present a fruitful strategy for the health communication field in general, and for pharmaceutical manufacturers in particular. To this end, two studies are presented here, which investigate how integrated promotional CSR messages are utilized and perceived in a cross-cultural setting. Results indicate that (1) to date, social and green appeals do not constitute a dominant message appeal category in the pharmaceutical industry, and, (2) while CSR appeals in pharmaceutical ads resonated with consumers in the U.S. and Brazil, they were looked upon less favorably by German respondents. This suggests that pharmaceutical marketers intending to incorporate CSR appeals in their commercial messages should tailor such messages to the respective country. In conclusion, limitations are addressed and suggestions for further research are provided.