Research Team Explores Who Uses Voice Technology for Healthcare Related Topics

A new study from the market research team at Zion & Zion, a full-service national marketing agency, explored what consumers searched for on smartphones and smart speakers related to healthcare.

According to Zion & Zion, nearly 90 percent of all consumers own a device that has the capability to search the internet by asking a question into a microphone. The team found that although 67.5 percent of consumers ask questions to their smart devices with their voice, what exactly they are searching for when it comes to healthcare related topics warrants further investigation.

Zion & Zion conducted a nationwide survey of 1,049 consumers age 18 and over. The team investigated how consumers are using voice-enabled devices to search for healthcare information, and found that nearly 25 percent of consumers use voice search for health-related questions.

In figure one, Zion & Zion delves into the 24 percent of individuals who are using voice technology to search for health related topics.

The most popular type of health searches, at 65 percent, pertained to those interested in discovering information about symptoms or treatments of an ailment or disease.

According to Google, and integrated into Zion & Zion’s research, the top most popular health-related questions searched for in 2017 were:

1. What causes hiccups?
2. How to stop snoring?
3. What causes kidney stones?
4. Why am I so tired?
5. How long does the flu last?
6. What is normal blood pressure?
7. How to lower cholesterol
8. What is ADHD?
9. What is lupus?

Figures 2 and 3 show how age can impact use of voice technology when acquiring health information.

This information revealed that individuals 29 and younger, and those 45 and older, use their voice technology less frequently than those 30 to 44 year old.

Additionally, Zion & Zion looked at the 76 percent of consumers who are not currently using voice to search for health related topics.

This information shows the number one reason, at 28 percent, that individuals are not using voice technology for health topics is because they have no need for it. Additionally, 26 percent would rather type and read the answers to health related topics than use their voice.

Overall, these findings could indicate that individuals are more comfortable using their keypad, and the discretion of their eyes, to read about researched diagnosis. However, with language processing being pursued by companies like Google and Microsoft, voice technology is still on the rise. Ultimately, voice technology and smartphones will continue to implore health related questions, and help educate curious health investigators.