How PR firms use research to sell products

[Guest guest]

http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/328/7438/530-a

 

BMJ 2004;328:530 (28 February), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7438.530-a

 

The Press

How PR firms use research to sell products In the past month we have seen some

pretty astonishing research. Studies have proved that moving to the countryside,

drinking wine, or discussing your relationship problems in bed can improve

sexual problems. Owning a pet helps you recover more quickly from illness,

testosterone causes unsafe sex, and if your eyes are brown or green they are

officially the " wrong " colour. But texting is good for your mental health.

You may not have been privy to these discoveries unless, like us, you have an

interest in what research appears in the lay media, or are regularly targeted by

public relations companies.

While many questions have been asked about research undertaken by pharmaceutical

companies, until now there has been a tendency to ignore the activities of PR

companies, which have begun using " research " to sell products. They conduct a

" study " —usually a " survey " —and aggressively target the press, making sure the

coverage names their product. The result is quick and dirty research, with cheap

advertising.

It is easy to dismiss such work, but, given that health is a favourite topic for

the PR study, we ought to be concerned—particularly because PR companies have

big budgets to promote their research, to the exclusion of more reliable,

ethical work. Although the Royal Society is currently looking at how scientific

research is reviewed and reported, it seems that PR studies may be slipping

through the net.

PR research is intrinsically flawed because it is completed in a short space of

time with no ethical approval nor peer review. Often the PR company has decided

on the outcome way before the study begins. Where experts are involved they are

unlikely to design or analyse the research, and are often provided with quotes

to say about the study by the PR company. Whereas research undertaken with NHS

staff or patients must now comply with the research governance framework, PR

companies have no such responsibilities when contacting members of the public

outside of the NHS. For example, one company wanting to promote a new treatment

for thrush asked one of us (Petra Boynton) to endorse a high street survey that

asked passers-by if they had a sexually transmitted infection, including HIV

(she declined). Such a study would not be possible in an NHS research

environment.

Such studies are driven by potential headlines, not a hypothesis or an awareness

of existing data. So PR research has outcomes that directly contradict existing

evidence, make no reference to it, or replicate it on a far shoddier level (for

example a magazine survey of the nation's health may hit the headlines, even

though national health data also exists).

Because PR survey results are presented as startling, journalists may see a good

headline, a light story, or a way of meeting a looming deadline. We estimate

that the average magazine or newspaper journalist will be targeted by several PR

companies a day. Since PR studies frequently use big numbers—the magic 1000

participants—some journalists are also beginning to distrust research that has

smaller samples, perhaps meaning that many health studies, particularly

qualitative ones, are ignored.

There is a danger that media outlets could become wall-to-wall PR. This is going

to be an increasingly important issue for all of us involved in high-quality,

ethical health research. Now it is time to extend the debate before the public

becomes completely disillusioned with so-called research.

 

 

Petra Boynton, non-clinical lecturer

department of primary care and population sciences, University College London

p.boynton

Sara Shaw, senior research fellow

department of primary care and population sciences, University College London

Will Callaghan, health journalist

London

 

 

 

 

 

Search - Find what you’re looking for faster.