A Survey of the Public Perception of Chiropractic After Exposure to Chiropractic Public Place Marketing Events in New Zealand

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess public perception of chiropractic public place marketing events. METHOD: A chiropractic public place marketing program was held at 3 events (a community sports event, an exposition, and a university campus market day) over a 5-month period in Auckland, New Zealand, between 2008 and 2009. Participants were interviewed by chiropractic students. Interview questions were standardized and sought to find out participants’ perception of chiropractic and whether it was influenced in a positive or negative manner after their exposure to the marketing program. RESULTS: Three hundred forty-five interviews were completed during 3 events. The minority of participants (15.9%) had a negative view of chiropractic, 29.2% were neutral, and 54.9% had a positive view of chiropractic. Of the responses of those surveyed, 54% did not change their opinion of chiropractic, 44.3% were more positive, and 1.7% were more negative. CONCLUSIONS: This study found that direct or indirect exposure to chiropractic public place marketing events may possibly influence the public perception of chiropractic. Because of the limited sample, these findings cannot be extrapolated to other regions or populations. Further studies are needed to test these findings in other world regions and in more controlled environments.