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Abstract
Insomnia is a very frequent condition which affects women in particular and older people more frequently than younger ones. The reasons for which these groups are more affected have to do with psychological and physiological causes. At the request of a large pharmaceutical company, this report tries to understand how a new insomnia drug could be efficiently marketed in the case of these target groups. Awareness campaigns which illustrate the causes of insomnia in different targeted groups increase the trust of people in the company. Marketing campaigns should be conducted on a variety of media most often employed by different groups.
Introduction
While getting 6 to 8 hours of sleep each night is essential for human beings’ health and productivity rates, roughly 2.1 million Australians are currently fighting against insomnia (Roy Morgan Research, 2015). Even though in some cases changing the sleeping habits may be enough, medication is often the only solution for sleeplessness. The findings in this report are meant to assist the promotion of a new insomnia drug which is offers an effective solution to people who fight against insomnia. The report was requested by the pharmaceutical company which created the new drug and is informed by published works and studies in the field.
Findings
Insomnia in the General Population
According to the latest findings from Roy Morgan Research (2015), up to 12% of the entire Australian population is suffering from insomnia, but there are great differences among different age groups, as well as between men and women, as figure 1 below shows.
Figure 1: Insomnia Rates among Australian Men and Women
Source: Roy Morgan Research. 2015. Sleeping uneasy: insomnia more likely to affect women, [online]. Available at: http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/6438-insomnia-more-likely-to-affect-women-201509062254
Gender
Gender seems to be one of the main factors which influence sleeplessness, as more women than men report insomnia symptoms (Roy Morgan Research, 2015). Many more women are likely to be affected by this condition than men, with up to 16%o women and 8% of men reporting that they are affected by this problem (see figure 1). According to Brodsky & Brodsky (2011), one possible explanation for the difference is that women may be more likely to report sleep problems to their doctors than men. Furthermore, women may suffer because of “female hormones that play a large role in women’s sleep disturbances” (Brodsky & Brodsky 2011, p. 58). Thus, estrogen stimulates the production of cortisol which is the “alerting” hormone.
Age
Adults and in particular the elderly, are more likely to suffer from chronic insomnia (Brodsky & Brodsky 2011). Middle –age insomnia is associated with stress, depression and different other psychological and physiological causes. In old age, insomnia is more frequent than in any other life stage. Brodsky & Brodsky 2011 showed that “normal aging is associated with changes in sleep quantity, quality and sleep architecture, such as a decrease in the ability to initiate and maintain sleep” (p. 63). About 20% of the older population regularly employs some form of sleep aid (Chatham 2012).
Workers’ Insomnia
Shift Work
Shift work is a term which applies to all kinds of non-standard schedules, such as permanent night shifts, rotating shifts or occasional night shifts (Sack 2010). Regardless of the type of shifts they must perform, workers may experience insomnia because of the difficult circadian adaptation (Sack 2010). Daytime insomnia may be caused by circadian misalignment, although environmental factors, such as noise and light, as well as house chores, may be an explanation for insomnia in this case. Insomnia is more common among people who work in shifts (Attarian).
Type of occupation
Depending on one’s occupation, he or she may be predisposed to insomnia of different types. As Attarian showed, in a study conducted in Finland, sleep-onset insomnia was highest among bus drivers (18.9 %), but this was closely followed by female cleaners (18.8%). Furthermore, male laborers reported disturbed nocturnal sleep. In another study in Japan, it was found that different stressors are associated with different types of insomnia.
Conclusion
Insomnia is often associated with stress and depression among other factors. As shown above, more women and men experience insomnia, due to physiological factors such as hormonal changes, throughout different life stages. However, this finding may also be related to the fact that more women than men report cases of insomnia. Also, older people are more likely than any other group to experience sleeplessness, although all the other age groups may experience insomnia as well. Because of their occupations or schedules, workers from different fields experience insomnia.
Recommendations
In light of the above, a successful marketing campaign should focus on the following:
For middle-age women, sleeplessness may be caused by middle-age stress, anxiety and physiological problems related to menopause. For older people, this includes chronical insomnia problems related to the age. TV commercials and posters should address each problem separately. The topic should be related to each problem that middle-aged women and the elderly might have, and it should reveal how these problems affect sleep, and how the pills may solve the problem.
Helping people to understand why they have sleep problems, by means of a broader awareness campaign via brochures, magazine articles or by having doctors speak on TV about these issues would build trust in the pharmaceutical company, and in the new drug. For example, such an awareness campaign might focus on the health of women who go through menopause, or elderly people who may experience chronic insomnia and why.
As shown above, more women than men report cases of insomnia to their doctors. Therefore, this drug could be marketed directly to the doctors by having representatives of the pharmaceutical companies approach them directly and argue for the qualities of the new product. Doctors are likely to recommend it to their patients afterwards.
Because many people work in shifts and may experience insomnia as a result, a TV commercial which illustrates this problem should be effective. For example, one commercial may show a woman trying to get some daytime sleep after returning from a night shift, but being bothered by noises. Moreover, a commercial may show a person trying to fight insomnia in different moments of the day, as he/she returns from different shifts.
A stressful or particularly draining occupation may cause insomnia, as shown above. A poster, billboard or TV commercial may illustrate men and women in different occupations which are more likely to cause insomnia, and should clearly show that those people suffer from insomnia because of the stressful jobs. People who recognize themselves in this advertisement are likely to buy the product.
References
Attarian, H, ed. 2004. Clinical handbook of insomnia. New York: Springer.
Brodsky, P., & Brodsky, A. 2011. Living with insomnia: a guide to causes, effects and management with personal accounts. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co.
Chatham, J. 2012. Insomnia: a guide to insomnia and relief for a better night’s sleep. Berkley, CA: Rockridge University Press.
Roy Morgan Research. 2015. Sleeping uneasy: insomnia more likely to affect women, [online]. Available at: http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/6438-insomnia-more-likely-to-affect-women-201509062254
Sack, R. 2010. Insomnia in circadian rhythm sleep disorders: shift work/jet lag/DSP/Free-Running-Blindness. In: M. Stateia & D. Buysse. Insomnia: Diagnosis and Treatment. Essex, UK: Informa Publishing.
