Reduce or redirect? Which social marketing interventions could influence demand for traditional medicines?

Abstract The global trade in wildlife is a threat to species conservation and animal welfare. A key driver is demand for traditional medicines (TMs). We present an initial experimental survey of demand reduction and demand redirection interventions aimed at changing the behaviour of TM consumers in China and Vietnam. Treatment respondents (n = 1600) were shown TM products, with messages outlining their conservation, welfare or human health impacts, and asked their intention to buy these products in the future. Control respondents (n = 400) were shown nothing. All respondents were then shown a ‘herbal’ (plant-based) substitute, and asked how likely they would be to buy it. Respondents were finally shown a list of TMs and asked to select those they would buy. Of treatment respondents 62.7% stated they would stop buying TMs, but when later offered a list of TMs, 52.2% selected at least one to buy. Frequent buyers exhibited a smaller treatment response than occasional buyers (56.4% versus 67.1%, said they would stop buying), and a larger gap between this and their later decision to buy TMs (a 32.8% versus 14.0% difference). With respect to herbal substitutes, 88.9% of regular buyers selected high purchase likelihoods, compared with 73.5% of occasional purchasers, proportions unaffected by experimental group. Information campaigns may have a limited effect in reducing demand, particularly among frequent users of TMs. Frequent purchasers, however, exhibited the greatest enthusiasm for herbal substitutes. Future approaches to protect wildlife should test the effectiveness of working with TM practitioners to redirect demand onto alternative, non-animal TM ingredients.