When it comes to voice search in healthcare, only 24% of consumers are using voice-enabled devices to search for healthcare information.
From smartphones to smart speakers, consumers are searching with their voices. What exactly they are searching for when it comes to healthcare-related topics is explored in a new study from the market research team at Zion & Zion, a top-ranked, full-service national marketing agency.
The study reveals only 24% of consumers have searched for healthcare information by speaking a question into their voice-enabled devices, such as Amazon Echo, Google Home, or phones equipped with Siri or Google Assistant.
Report Background
The aim of the study is to better understand how consumers search using voice assistants and their implications for the healthcare industry, Zion & Zion conducted a nationwide survey of 1,049 consumers ages 18+. The study investigated how consumers are using voice-enabled devices to search for healthcare-related information.
Other key findings of the report include:
– The most popular healthcare voice queries are those pertaining to symptoms or treatments of an ailment, disease, or other health condition—posed by 65% of consumers who have used their voice to ask a question of their voice-enabled devices. 32% have used their voice to search for a doctor or specialist.
– Of consumers using voice search for health questions, nearly one-third of respondents in our study say that they use voice search to find a doctor, and 28% are looking for a hospital, emergency facility, or clinic. The volume of these voice searches is certain to climb as Apple’s recently introduced Siri-enabled HomePod smart speaker grabs market share.
– Both those 29 and younger, and those 45 and older, use voice-enabled devices to obtain health information less frequently than those 30 to 44. Across all ages, the most popular health topics searched for via voice are related to symptoms and treatments of health conditions.
– The top reasons for not using voice-enabled devices to search for healthcare information are not having a need to do so (28%) and those who would rather type their question into a browser (26%).
