The Eruption of Technology in Traditional Medicine: How Social Media Guides the Sale of Natural Plant Products in the Sonoran Desert Region^sup 1

• Published in: Economic botany 2015-12, Vol.69 (4), p.360
• Main Authors: Semotiuk, Andrew J, Semotiuk, Nancy L, Ezcurra, Exequiel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Deserts; Herbs; Medicinal plants; Survival
• ISSN: 0013-0001; 1874-9364
• DOI: 10.1007/s12231-015-9327-6

The Eruption of Technology in Traditional Medicine: How Social Media Guides the Sale of Natural Plant Products in the Sonoran Desert Region Because the adoption of technology into traditional systems has unknown effects, we examined the hypothesis that social media aids shopkeeper selection of herbs or herbal preparations that the public is exposed to. Medicinal plant shopkeepers in southern Sonora, Mexico, were interviewed about their customer base and marketing strategy. The majority, 85%, of their customers had low to middle incomes as ranked by the shopkeepers, of which seven of seventeen incorporate social media marketing into their marketing strategy. Shopkeepers preferentially selected herbal preparations over loose herbs for online marketing. The results indicate that the incorporation of social media marketing aids a shift from herbs to herbal preparations in Sonoran traditional medicine markets. In short, social media use may act as a conditioning factor used by shopkeepers to promote herbal preparations and, in doing so, may provide a critical tool for the long-term survival of traditional plant markets, but at the risk of also contributing to the loss of the culture of home remedies and traditional domestic preparation of natural products.