The paper has twin aims, one practical and one theoretical. From a practical point of view, the aim is to begin to identify appropriate marketing strategies and tactics for complementary and alternative therapists. From a theoretical point of view, the aim is to shape a research agenda for the exploration of marketing frameworks – such as service quality, consumer behaviour and relationship marketing – in the new and rather unusual context of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).
The paper reviews the literature on CAM from a UK and a US perspective and provides the findings from a small online survey of users of CAM.
Initial research suggests that factors ancillary to the main therapeutic purpose of the medical treatment, particularly the level of personal care felt by the client, can have a substantial effect on client satisfaction. It is suggested that this is a sector in which marketing through relationships, networks and alliances is practised extensively and implicitly, and, therefore, that it would be a fruitful context in which to research and to apply relationship marketing principles.
The paper develops a research agenda for further inquiry into the emerging area of business and marketing in CAM.
