Original article Internet marketing strategy for Malaysia medical practitioners Wan Mohd Hirwani Wan Hussain, Mohd Nizam Ab Rahman, Wan Kamal Mujani, Zinatul A Zainol and Noor Inayah Yaakub Abstract The purpose of this study is to determine and examine Internet marketing strategies that can be implemented by medical doctors/practitioners in Malaysia. Despite the increasing importance among many organizations of the Internet as a marketing tool, few studies have been conducted to examine the potential of the Internet as a marketing platform for medical doctors in the Malaysian context. The results reveal that compared to offline advertising, Internet marketing is a better mechanism and an important strategy for medical doctors. In this work, the advantages of using Internet marketing are highlighted, and implications for marketing strategy are demonstrated. We believe that Internet marketing can help Malaysian doctors improve their customer service and performance. Keywords Malaysia, service marketing, medical marketing, Internet marketing, doctors Introduction Due to advances in technology and science, we are now living in a world without boundaries, in a global economy that has changed our lifestyle. The Internet is the most creative innovation that we have today. Use of the Internet has exploded, creating a powerful mechanism that has helped transform our lifestyle and allowed close communication. In addition to con- necting more than 333 million people, 1 Internet has seen more than a million-fold increase in the number of websites in recent years. Therefore, the Internet has had a great impact on the health care industry in Malaysia. Today, most of us can get information about health online, and there are many sites that provide information about health and health-related topics. The Internet also enables consumers to buy and sell products online, and there is no doubt that the Internet has become ubiquitous since its introduc- tion in late 1999. Based on the 1996 HIMS/Hewlett-Packard Leadership survey of 1,200 health care information technology professionals, Internet is widely used in health care to support clinical research (55%) and facilitate communication (33%) as well as to provide health care information to consumers (24%). Advances in technology, especially in the Internet, have had an important impact on the art and means of marketing techniques in different industries, includ- ing the health care industry. The number of customers using the Internet increases every year and continues to grow. Initially, the Internet seemed to be used primarily to obtain information, but it is now used to network socially with our friends and colleagues, shop online, and build new relationships. The potential of using the Internet as a marketing strategy has been widely discussed for other profes- sionals, including lawyers, dentists and accountants, among many others. It has been accepted that the Internet will represent the new revolution in and fron- tier of marketing. The potential of the Internet and for using websites for marketing in the health care indus- try has been widely discussed and researched. 2–4 Samiee 5 argues that the Internet can be used for mar- keting in four ways: communication and advertising, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia Corresponding author: Wan Mohd Hirwani Wan Hussain, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor, 43600, Malaysia Email: wmhwh12@gmail.com Journal of Medical Marketing 12(1) 13–21 ! The Author(s) 2012 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1745790411435372 mmj.sagepub.com