摘要：The purpose of the study is to assess the perception, attitudes and behaviorof the key target consumer groups ¨Cdoctors and patients, regarding social media marketing by pharmaceutical industry. It is a cross-sectional, questionnaire-basedstudy done in 2 groups ¨C50 general practitioners and 250 patients, in Navi Mumbai (India) area, selected by random sampling.The results highlighted that the awareness and acceptance of the concept of social media marketing was high amongst boththe doctors and the patients. Amongst doctors,it ispositively and significantly associated with young age and having a postgraduatedegree after MBBS. Amongst the patients, a high proportiontake self medication based on reference to the internet, most common ailments for use of self medication being aches, respira tory illnesses and gastrointestinal illnesses. The increasing positive response of the key consumer groups, especially in the young age group, makes social media a powerful marketing tool, which can be explored by the pharmaceutical industry.
