Client Context
A pharmaceutical brand team supporting treatment for a common chronic condition sought to address gaps between prescribing and real‑world medication use.
The Business Challenge
The client was seeing signs that prescriptions were going unfilled and hearing feedback from healthcare providers that patients were inconsistent in taking their medication over time. The brand team lacked a deep understanding of how patients experienced their ongoing treatment and what truly influenced their day‑to‑day decisions. To develop meaningful materials and resources that could better support adherence, the team needed to move beyond surface‑level explanations and uncover both the rational and emotional drivers shaping patient behavior.
Capabilities Applied
- Patient Experience Qualitative
- Behavioral Science–Informed Research
- Qualitative Research (Focus Groups & In‑Depth Interviews)
Approach
HawkPartners conducted exploratory qualitative research, including in-person focus groups and virtual individual interviews with a range of diagnosed patients. Using principles of behavioral economics, the research design intentionally surfaced System 1 drivers—unconscious, instinctive biases influencing behavior—and System 2 feedback reflecting patients’ more deliberate and rational thinking. Discussions focused on hearing and affirming patients’ current experience with their ongoing medication and their level of persistence/adherence, rather than offering solutions. This approach helped create a safe environment for candid dialogue and more authentic insight.
Impact
The research identified common “rational” reasons why patients might not be persistent with medication as well as previously unexplored deep emotional drivers to behaviors. Deliverables also included recommendations on the potential outcomes of tapping into each of those emotional drivers and whether they would lead to productive or unproductive actions (e.g., stimulating fear vs hope).
