Health marketing: Research cooperation with the GRC North-East

Voluntary blood donations are still the only way to meet the growing need for blood products. So far, however, there is little knowledge about the extent to which marketing measures can have a positive influence on blood donation acquisition and retention.

Regarding this background, the research cooperation on health marketing between the German Red Cross Blood Donor Service North-East and the professorships of Prof. Dr. Silke Boenigk and Prof. Dr. Michel Clement initiated by the University of Hamburg in September 2010. One goal of the cooperation is to promote young scientists in the field of health marketing. In addition, new strategies and measures for the GRC Blood Donor Service North-East are derived based on scientific findings from donation research.

As a facility of the German Red Cross, seven regional blood donation services operate in Germany. The research partner of the cooperation, the GRC Blood Donor Service North-East, takes blood donations daily in the federal states of Berlin, Saxony, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein and organizes the preparation and examination of the blood. In this way, they ensure the supply of blood to patients in the region and ensure transfusion medical care for clinics and medical practices. The objectives of the blood donation teams include both the concern for the well-being of the donors and the protection of the recipients of blood preparations from infections and other disadvantages that may be associated with blood transfusion. The research partner is also actively involved in the further development of blood donation marketing in Germany and Europe.

This research cooperation aims to provide long-term scientific support for Germany's largest joint project: Voluntary unpaid blood donation at the German Red Cross.

You can find more information about the research cooperation here.