other words used for case study

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

• Knowledge Base

Methodology

• What Is a Case Study? | Definition, Examples & Methods

What Is a Case Study? | Definition, Examples & Methods

Published on May 8, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on November 20, 2023.

A case study is a detailed study of a specific subject, such as a person, group, place, event, organization, or phenomenon. Case studies are commonly used in social, educational, clinical, and business research.

A case study research design usually involves qualitative methods , but quantitative methods are sometimes also used. Case studies are good for describing , comparing, evaluating and understanding different aspects of a research problem .

Table of contents

When to do a case study, step 1: select a case, step 2: build a theoretical framework, step 3: collect your data, step 4: describe and analyze the case, other interesting articles.

A case study is an appropriate research design when you want to gain concrete, contextual, in-depth knowledge about a specific real-world subject. It allows you to explore the key characteristics, meanings, and implications of the case.

Case studies are often a good choice in a thesis or dissertation . They keep your project focused and manageable when you don’t have the time or resources to do large-scale research.

You might use just one complex case study where you explore a single subject in depth, or conduct multiple case studies to compare and illuminate different aspects of your research problem.

Receive feedback on language, structure, and formatting

Professional editors proofread and edit your paper by focusing on:

• Academic style
• Vague sentences
• Style consistency

See an example

Once you have developed your problem statement and research questions , you should be ready to choose the specific case that you want to focus on. A good case study should have the potential to:

• Provide new or unexpected insights into the subject
• Challenge or complicate existing assumptions and theories
• Propose practical courses of action to resolve a problem
• Open up new directions for future research

TipIf your research is more practical in nature and aims to simultaneously investigate an issue as you solve it, consider conducting action research instead.

Unlike quantitative or experimental research , a strong case study does not require a random or representative sample. In fact, case studies often deliberately focus on unusual, neglected, or outlying cases which may shed new light on the research problem.

Example of an outlying case studyIn the 1960s the town of Roseto, Pennsylvania was discovered to have extremely low rates of heart disease compared to the US average. It became an important case study for understanding previously neglected causes of heart disease.

However, you can also choose a more common or representative case to exemplify a particular category, experience or phenomenon.

Example of a representative case studyIn the 1920s, two sociologists used Muncie, Indiana as a case study of a typical American city that supposedly exemplified the changing culture of the US at the time.

While case studies focus more on concrete details than general theories, they should usually have some connection with theory in the field. This way the case study is not just an isolated description, but is integrated into existing knowledge about the topic. It might aim to:

• Exemplify a theory by showing how it explains the case under investigation
• Expand on a theory by uncovering new concepts and ideas that need to be incorporated
• Challenge a theory by exploring an outlier case that doesn’t fit with established assumptions

To ensure that your analysis of the case has a solid academic grounding, you should conduct a literature review of sources related to the topic and develop a theoretical framework . This means identifying key concepts and theories to guide your analysis and interpretation.

There are many different research methods you can use to collect data on your subject. Case studies tend to focus on qualitative data using methods such as interviews , observations , and analysis of primary and secondary sources (e.g., newspaper articles, photographs, official records). Sometimes a case study will also collect quantitative data.

Example of a mixed methods case studyFor a case study of a wind farm development in a rural area, you could collect quantitative data on employment rates and business revenue, collect qualitative data on local people’s perceptions and experiences, and analyze local and national media coverage of the development.

The aim is to gain as thorough an understanding as possible of the case and its context.

Here's why students love Scribbr's proofreading services

Discover proofreading & editing

In writing up the case study, you need to bring together all the relevant aspects to give as complete a picture as possible of the subject.

How you report your findings depends on the type of research you are doing. Some case studies are structured like a standard scientific paper or thesis , with separate sections or chapters for the methods , results and discussion .

Others are written in a more narrative style, aiming to explore the case from various angles and analyze its meanings and implications (for example, by using textual analysis or discourse analysis ).

In all cases, though, make sure to give contextual details about the case, connect it back to the literature and theory, and discuss how it fits into wider patterns or debates.

If you want to know more about statistics , methodology , or research bias , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• Normal distribution
• Degrees of freedom
• Null hypothesis
• Discourse analysis
• Control groups
• Mixed methods research
• Non-probability sampling
• Quantitative research
• Ecological validity

Research bias

• Rosenthal effect
• Implicit bias
• Cognitive bias
• Selection bias
• Negativity bias
• Status quo bias

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

McCombes, S. (2023, November 20). What Is a Case Study? | Definition, Examples & Methods. Scribbr. Retrieved June 11, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/case-study/

Is this article helpful?

Shona McCombes

Other students also liked, primary vs. secondary sources | difference & examples, what is a theoretical framework | guide to organizing, what is action research | definition & examples, "i thought ai proofreading was useless but..".

I've been using Scribbr for years now and I know it's a service that won't disappoint. It does a good job spotting mistakes”

Look up a word, learn it forever.

/ˌkeɪ(s) ˈstʌdi/, /keɪs ˈstʌdi/.

Other forms: case studies

• noun a detailed analysis of a person or group from a social or psychological or medical point of view see more see less type of: analysis an investigation of the component parts of a whole and their relations in making up the whole
• noun a careful study of some social unit (as a corporation or division within a corporation) that attempts to determine what factors led to its success or failure see more see less type of: report , study , written report a written document describing the findings of some individual or group

Vocabulary lists containing case study

Get your neurons firing with this list of words related to psychology. You'll learn about parts of the brain, cognition and memory, psychiatry, phobias and psychological disorders, and more. This list will blow your mind!

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement..

• Bipolar Disorder
• Therapy Center
• When To See a Therapist
• Types of Therapy
• Best Online Therapy
• Best Couples Therapy
• Best Family Therapy
• Managing Stress
• Sleep and Dreaming
• Understanding Emotions
• Self-Improvement
• Healthy Relationships
• Student Resources
• Personality Types
• Guided Meditations
• Verywell Mind Insights
• 2024 Verywell Mind 25
• Mental Health in the Classroom
• Editorial Process
• Meet Our Review Board
• Crisis Support

What Is a Case Study?

Weighing the pros and cons of this method of research

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Cara Lustik is a fact-checker and copywriter.

Verywell / Colleen Tighe

• Pros and Cons

What Types of Case Studies Are Out There?

Where do you find data for a case study, how do i write a psychology case study.

A case study is an in-depth study of one person, group, or event. In a case study, nearly every aspect of the subject's life and history is analyzed to seek patterns and causes of behavior. Case studies can be used in many different fields, including psychology, medicine, education, anthropology, political science, and social work.

The point of a case study is to learn as much as possible about an individual or group so that the information can be generalized to many others. Unfortunately, case studies tend to be highly subjective, and it is sometimes difficult to generalize results to a larger population.

While case studies focus on a single individual or group, they follow a format similar to other types of psychology writing. If you are writing a case study, we got you—here are some rules of APA format to reference.  

At a Glance

A case study, or an in-depth study of a person, group, or event, can be a useful research tool when used wisely. In many cases, case studies are best used in situations where it would be difficult or impossible for you to conduct an experiment. They are helpful for looking at unique situations and allow researchers to gather a lot of˜ information about a specific individual or group of people. However, it's important to be cautious of any bias we draw from them as they are highly subjective.

What Are the Benefits and Limitations of Case Studies?

A case study can have its strengths and weaknesses. Researchers must consider these pros and cons before deciding if this type of study is appropriate for their needs.

One of the greatest advantages of a case study is that it allows researchers to investigate things that are often difficult or impossible to replicate in a lab. Some other benefits of a case study:

• Allows researchers to capture information on the 'how,' 'what,' and 'why,' of something that's implemented
• Gives researchers the chance to collect information on why one strategy might be chosen over another
• Permits researchers to develop hypotheses that can be explored in experimental research

On the other hand, a case study can have some drawbacks:

• It cannot necessarily be generalized to the larger population
• Cannot demonstrate cause and effect
• It may not be scientifically rigorous
• It can lead to bias

Researchers may choose to perform a case study if they want to explore a unique or recently discovered phenomenon. Through their insights, researchers develop additional ideas and study questions that might be explored in future studies.

It's important to remember that the insights from case studies cannot be used to determine cause-and-effect relationships between variables. However, case studies may be used to develop hypotheses that can then be addressed in experimental research.

Case Study Examples

There have been a number of notable case studies in the history of psychology. Much of  Freud's work and theories were developed through individual case studies. Some great examples of case studies in psychology include:

• Anna O : Anna O. was a pseudonym of a woman named Bertha Pappenheim, a patient of a physician named Josef Breuer. While she was never a patient of Freud's, Freud and Breuer discussed her case extensively. The woman was experiencing symptoms of a condition that was then known as hysteria and found that talking about her problems helped relieve her symptoms. Her case played an important part in the development of talk therapy as an approach to mental health treatment.
• Phineas Gage : Phineas Gage was a railroad employee who experienced a terrible accident in which an explosion sent a metal rod through his skull, damaging important portions of his brain. Gage recovered from his accident but was left with serious changes in both personality and behavior.
• Genie : Genie was a young girl subjected to horrific abuse and isolation. The case study of Genie allowed researchers to study whether language learning was possible, even after missing critical periods for language development. Her case also served as an example of how scientific research may interfere with treatment and lead to further abuse of vulnerable individuals.

Such cases demonstrate how case research can be used to study things that researchers could not replicate in experimental settings. In Genie's case, her horrific abuse denied her the opportunity to learn a language at critical points in her development.

This is clearly not something researchers could ethically replicate, but conducting a case study on Genie allowed researchers to study phenomena that are otherwise impossible to reproduce.

There are a few different types of case studies that psychologists and other researchers might use:

• Collective case studies : These involve studying a group of individuals. Researchers might study a group of people in a certain setting or look at an entire community. For example, psychologists might explore how access to resources in a community has affected the collective mental well-being of those who live there.
• Descriptive case studies : These involve starting with a descriptive theory. The subjects are then observed, and the information gathered is compared to the pre-existing theory.
• Explanatory case studies : These   are often used to do causal investigations. In other words, researchers are interested in looking at factors that may have caused certain things to occur.
• Exploratory case studies : These are sometimes used as a prelude to further, more in-depth research. This allows researchers to gather more information before developing their research questions and hypotheses .
• Instrumental case studies : These occur when the individual or group allows researchers to understand more than what is initially obvious to observers.
• Intrinsic case studies : This type of case study is when the researcher has a personal interest in the case. Jean Piaget's observations of his own children are good examples of how an intrinsic case study can contribute to the development of a psychological theory.

The three main case study types often used are intrinsic, instrumental, and collective. Intrinsic case studies are useful for learning about unique cases. Instrumental case studies help look at an individual to learn more about a broader issue. A collective case study can be useful for looking at several cases simultaneously.

The type of case study that psychology researchers use depends on the unique characteristics of the situation and the case itself.

There are a number of different sources and methods that researchers can use to gather information about an individual or group. Six major sources that have been identified by researchers are:

• Archival records : Census records, survey records, and name lists are examples of archival records.
• Direct observation : This strategy involves observing the subject, often in a natural setting . While an individual observer is sometimes used, it is more common to utilize a group of observers.
• Documents : Letters, newspaper articles, administrative records, etc., are the types of documents often used as sources.
• Interviews : Interviews are one of the most important methods for gathering information in case studies. An interview can involve structured survey questions or more open-ended questions.
• Participant observation : When the researcher serves as a participant in events and observes the actions and outcomes, it is called participant observation.
• Physical artifacts : Tools, objects, instruments, and other artifacts are often observed during a direct observation of the subject.

If you have been directed to write a case study for a psychology course, be sure to check with your instructor for any specific guidelines you need to follow. If you are writing your case study for a professional publication, check with the publisher for their specific guidelines for submitting a case study.

Here is a general outline of what should be included in a case study.

Section 1: A Case History

This section will have the following structure and content:

Background information : The first section of your paper will present your client's background. Include factors such as age, gender, work, health status, family mental health history, family and social relationships, drug and alcohol history, life difficulties, goals, and coping skills and weaknesses.

Description of the presenting problem : In the next section of your case study, you will describe the problem or symptoms that the client presented with.

Describe any physical, emotional, or sensory symptoms reported by the client. Thoughts, feelings, and perceptions related to the symptoms should also be noted. Any screening or diagnostic assessments that are used should also be described in detail and all scores reported.

Your diagnosis : Provide your diagnosis and give the appropriate Diagnostic and Statistical Manual code. Explain how you reached your diagnosis, how the client's symptoms fit the diagnostic criteria for the disorder(s), or any possible difficulties in reaching a diagnosis.

Section 2: Treatment Plan

This portion of the paper will address the chosen treatment for the condition. This might also include the theoretical basis for the chosen treatment or any other evidence that might exist to support why this approach was chosen.

• Cognitive behavioral approach : Explain how a cognitive behavioral therapist would approach treatment. Offer background information on cognitive behavioral therapy and describe the treatment sessions, client response, and outcome of this type of treatment. Make note of any difficulties or successes encountered by your client during treatment.
• Humanistic approach : Describe a humanistic approach that could be used to treat your client, such as client-centered therapy . Provide information on the type of treatment you chose, the client's reaction to the treatment, and the end result of this approach. Explain why the treatment was successful or unsuccessful.
• Psychoanalytic approach : Describe how a psychoanalytic therapist would view the client's problem. Provide some background on the psychoanalytic approach and cite relevant references. Explain how psychoanalytic therapy would be used to treat the client, how the client would respond to therapy, and the effectiveness of this treatment approach.
• Pharmacological approach : If treatment primarily involves the use of medications, explain which medications were used and why. Provide background on the effectiveness of these medications and how monotherapy may compare with an approach that combines medications with therapy or other treatments.

This section of a case study should also include information about the treatment goals, process, and outcomes.

When you are writing a case study, you should also include a section where you discuss the case study itself, including the strengths and limitiations of the study. You should note how the findings of your case study might support previous research. 

In your discussion section, you should also describe some of the implications of your case study. What ideas or findings might require further exploration? How might researchers go about exploring some of these questions in additional studies?

Need More Tips?

Here are a few additional pointers to keep in mind when formatting your case study:

• Never refer to the subject of your case study as "the client." Instead, use their name or a pseudonym.
• Read examples of case studies to gain an idea about the style and format.
• Remember to use APA format when citing references .

Crowe S, Cresswell K, Robertson A, Huby G, Avery A, Sheikh A. The case study approach .  BMC Med Res Methodol . 2011;11:100.

Crowe S, Cresswell K, Robertson A, Huby G, Avery A, Sheikh A. The case study approach . BMC Med Res Methodol . 2011 Jun 27;11:100. doi:10.1186/1471-2288-11-100

Gagnon, Yves-Chantal.  The Case Study as Research Method: A Practical Handbook . Canada, Chicago Review Press Incorporated DBA Independent Pub Group, 2010.

Yin, Robert K. Case Study Research and Applications: Design and Methods . United States, SAGE Publications, 2017.

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

• ABBREVIATIONS
• BIOGRAPHIES
• CALCULATORS
• CONVERSIONS
• DEFINITIONS

  Vocabulary      

What is another word for case study ?

Synonyms for case study case study, this thesaurus page includes all potential synonyms, words with the same meaning and similar terms for the word case study ., princeton's wordnet.

• case study noun

a careful study of some social unit (as a corporation or division within a corporation) that attempts to determine what factors led to its success or failure

a detailed analysis of a person or group from a social or psychological or medical point of view

Matched Categories

• Corporation

Concise Medical Dictionary, by Joseph C Segen, MD Rate these synonyms: 2.2 / 5 votes

Synonyms: Epidemiology Anecdotal report, anecdote, single case report

How to pronounce case study?

How to say case study in sign language, how to use case study in a sentence.

Alba Pasini :

This case study is really important, since it testifies that a medical approach to maternal morbidity actually existed during the Lombard period, despite the rejection of the scientific progress which denoted all the Early Middle Age, also, it shows two rare findings, since post-mortem fetal extrusion is a quite rare phenomenon( especially in archaeological specimens), while only a few examples of trepanation are known for the European Early Middle Age.

Josh Holmes :

For those asking, this is my response to West Virginia Roy Moore :' This clown is a walking, talking case study for the limitation of a prison's ability to rehabilitate,'.

Tesoro Corp :

We agree on the critical importance of continually learning from incidents and improving the safety of our operations, and inaccuracies in the case study do not detract from our resolve to learn from these incidents.

Houston Astros :

I think I’m kind of a case study on this one.

Sam Goodman :

The Hong Kong BNO scheme is an interesting case study of what can happen if there is political will, there are 12 welcome centers across the country and a really good support package which costs relatively little, including help with English language. And most importantly they just didn’t politicize it. All this has meant that 144,000 Hong Kongers have come here with little to no fuss, integrated quickly and there have been minimal issues.

Use the citation below to add these synonyms to your bibliography:

Style: MLA Chicago APA

"case study." Synonyms.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 Jun 2024. < https://www.synonyms.com/synonym/case+study >.

Discuss these case study synonyms with the community:

Report Comment

We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe. If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.

You need to be logged in to favorite .

Create a new account.

Your name: * Required

Your email address: * Required

Pick a user name: * Required

Username: * Required

Password: * Required

Forgot your password?    Retrieve it

Are we missing a good synonym for case study ?

Image credit, the web's largest resource for, synonyms & antonyms, a member of the stands4 network, image or illustration of.

Free, no signup required :

Add to chrome, add to firefox, browse synonyms.com, are you a human thesaurus, which of the following terms is an antonym of "grievous", nearby & related entries:.

• case load noun
• case officer noun
• case reporter
• case sensitive
• case shot noun
• case-by-case adj
• case-fatality
• case-fatality proportion noun

Alternative searches for case study :

• Search for case study on Amazon

• More from M-W
• To save this word, you'll need to log in. Log In

Definition of case study

Examples of case study in a sentence.

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'case study.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

1914, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Dictionary Entries Near case study

case spring

case study method

Cite this Entry

“Case study.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/case%20study. Accessed 11 Jun. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on case study

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for case study

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about case study

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Can you solve 4 words at once?

Word of the day.

See Definitions and Examples »

Get Word of the Day daily email!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism', more commonly misspelled words, commonly misspelled words, how to use em dashes (—), en dashes (–) , and hyphens (-), absent letters that are heard anyway, popular in wordplay, the words of the week - june 7, 8 words for lesser-known musical instruments, 9 superb owl words, 10 words for lesser-known games and sports, your favorite band is in the dictionary, games & quizzes.

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, automatically generate references for free.

• Knowledge Base
• Methodology
• Case Study | Definition, Examples & Methods

Case Study | Definition, Examples & Methods

Published on 5 May 2022 by Shona McCombes . Revised on 30 January 2023.

A case study is a detailed study of a specific subject, such as a person, group, place, event, organisation, or phenomenon. Case studies are commonly used in social, educational, clinical, and business research.

A case study research design usually involves qualitative methods , but quantitative methods are sometimes also used. Case studies are good for describing , comparing, evaluating, and understanding different aspects of a research problem .

Table of contents

When to do a case study, step 1: select a case, step 2: build a theoretical framework, step 3: collect your data, step 4: describe and analyse the case.

A case study is an appropriate research design when you want to gain concrete, contextual, in-depth knowledge about a specific real-world subject. It allows you to explore the key characteristics, meanings, and implications of the case.

Case studies are often a good choice in a thesis or dissertation . They keep your project focused and manageable when you don’t have the time or resources to do large-scale research.

You might use just one complex case study where you explore a single subject in depth, or conduct multiple case studies to compare and illuminate different aspects of your research problem.

Prevent plagiarism, run a free check.

Once you have developed your problem statement and research questions , you should be ready to choose the specific case that you want to focus on. A good case study should have the potential to:

• Provide new or unexpected insights into the subject
• Challenge or complicate existing assumptions and theories
• Propose practical courses of action to resolve a problem
• Open up new directions for future research

Unlike quantitative or experimental research, a strong case study does not require a random or representative sample. In fact, case studies often deliberately focus on unusual, neglected, or outlying cases which may shed new light on the research problem.

If you find yourself aiming to simultaneously investigate and solve an issue, consider conducting action research . As its name suggests, action research conducts research and takes action at the same time, and is highly iterative and flexible. 

However, you can also choose a more common or representative case to exemplify a particular category, experience, or phenomenon.

While case studies focus more on concrete details than general theories, they should usually have some connection with theory in the field. This way the case study is not just an isolated description, but is integrated into existing knowledge about the topic. It might aim to:

• Exemplify a theory by showing how it explains the case under investigation
• Expand on a theory by uncovering new concepts and ideas that need to be incorporated
• Challenge a theory by exploring an outlier case that doesn’t fit with established assumptions

To ensure that your analysis of the case has a solid academic grounding, you should conduct a literature review of sources related to the topic and develop a theoretical framework . This means identifying key concepts and theories to guide your analysis and interpretation.

There are many different research methods you can use to collect data on your subject. Case studies tend to focus on qualitative data using methods such as interviews, observations, and analysis of primary and secondary sources (e.g., newspaper articles, photographs, official records). Sometimes a case study will also collect quantitative data .

The aim is to gain as thorough an understanding as possible of the case and its context.

In writing up the case study, you need to bring together all the relevant aspects to give as complete a picture as possible of the subject.

How you report your findings depends on the type of research you are doing. Some case studies are structured like a standard scientific paper or thesis, with separate sections or chapters for the methods , results , and discussion .

Others are written in a more narrative style, aiming to explore the case from various angles and analyse its meanings and implications (for example, by using textual analysis or discourse analysis ).

In all cases, though, make sure to give contextual details about the case, connect it back to the literature and theory, and discuss how it fits into wider patterns or debates.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the ‘Cite this Scribbr article’ button to automatically add the citation to our free Reference Generator.

McCombes, S. (2023, January 30). Case Study | Definition, Examples & Methods. Scribbr. Retrieved 11 June 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/research-methods/case-studies/

Is this article helpful?

Shona McCombes

Other students also liked, correlational research | guide, design & examples, a quick guide to experimental design | 5 steps & examples, descriptive research design | definition, methods & examples.

• Dictionaries home
• American English
• Collocations
• German-English
• Grammar home
• Practical English Usage
• Learn & Practise Grammar (Beta)
• Word Lists home
• My Word Lists
• Recent additions
• Resources home
• Text Checker

Definition of case study noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

• She co-authored a case study on urban development.

Questions about grammar and vocabulary?

Find the answers with Practical English Usage online, your indispensable guide to problems in English.

• Athletes make an interesting case study for doctors.

Nearby words

• Daily Crossword
• Word Puzzle
• Word Finder
• Word of the Day
• Synonym of the Day
• Word of the Year
• Language stories
• All featured
• Gender and sexuality
• All pop culture
• Writing hub
• Grammar essentials
• Commonly confused
• All writing tips
• Pop culture
• Writing tips

Advertisement

• a study of an individual unit, as a person, family, or social group, usually emphasizing developmental issues and relationships with the environment, especially in order to compare a larger group to the individual unit.
• case history .
• the act or an instance of analysing one or more particular cases or case histories with a view to making generalizations

Discover More

Word history and origins.

Origin of case study 1

Example Sentences

In a case study from Metric Theory, Target Impression Share bidding, the total cost per click increased with both mobile and desktop devices.

It would also become the subject of a fair number of business school case studies.

Not just blog posts, you can also share other resources like case studies, podcast episodes, and webinars via Instagram Stories.

They become the architecture for a case study of Flint, expressed in a more personal and poetic way than a straightforward investigation could.

The Creek Fire was a case study in the challenge facing today’s fire analysts, who are trying to predict the movements of fires that are far more severe than those seen just a decade ago.

A case study would be your Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke.

A good case study for the minority superhero problem is Luke Cage.

He was asked to review a case study out of Lebanon that had cited his work.

Instead, now we have a political science case-study proving how political fortunes can shift and change at warp speed.

One interesting case study is Sir Arthur Evans, the original excavator and “restorer” of the Minoan palace of Knossos on Crete.

As this is a case study, it should be said that my first mistake was in discrediting my early religious experience.

The author of a recent case study of democracy in a frontier county commented on the need for this kind of investigation.

How could a case study of Virginia during this period illustrate these developments?

Related Words

• medical history

• Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Meaning of case study in English

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

• anti-narrative
• be another story idiom
• bodice-ripper
• cautionary tale
• in medias res
• misdescription
• running commentary phrase
• semi-legendary
• shaggy-dog story
• write something up

case study | American Dictionary

Case study | business english, examples of case study, translations of case study.

Get a quick, free translation!

Word of the Day

to shape something so that it can move as effectively and quickly as possible through a liquid or gas

Worse than or worst of all? How to use the words ‘worse’ and ‘worst’

Learn more with +Plus

• Recent and Recommended {{#preferredDictionaries}} {{name}} {{/preferredDictionaries}}
• Definitions Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English
• Grammar and thesaurus Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English Grammar Thesaurus
• Pronunciation British and American pronunciations with audio English Pronunciation
• English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English
• English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English
• English–Dutch Dutch–English
• English–French French–English
• English–German German–English
• English–Indonesian Indonesian–English
• English–Italian Italian–English
• English–Japanese Japanese–English
• English–Norwegian Norwegian–English
• English–Polish Polish–English
• English–Portuguese Portuguese–English
• English–Spanish Spanish–English
• English–Swedish Swedish–English
• Dictionary +Plus Word Lists
• English    Noun
• American    Noun
• Business    Noun
• Translations
• All translations

To add case study to a word list please sign up or log in.

Add case study to one of your lists below, or create a new one.

{{message}}

Something went wrong.

There was a problem sending your report.

• Daily Crossword
• Word Puzzle
• Word Finder
• Word of the Day
• Synonym of the Day
• Word of the Year
• Language stories
• All featured
• Gender and sexuality
• All pop culture
• Writing hub
• Grammar essentials
• Commonly confused
• All writing tips
• Pop culture
• Writing tips

Advertisement

noun as in learning, analysis

Strongest matches

application , class , consideration , course , debate , examination , exercise , inquiry , inspection , investigation , research , review , subject , survey

Strong matches

abstraction , analyzing , attention , cogitation , comparison , concentration , contemplation , cramming , deliberation , lesson , meditation , memorizing , muse , musing , pondering , questioning , reading , reasoning , reflection , reverie , rumination , schoolwork , scrutiny , thought , trance , weighing

academic work

verb as in contemplate, learn

consider , examine , learn , ponder , pore over , read , think

coach , cogitate , cram , dig , excogitate , grind , inquire , lucubrate , meditate , mind , peruse , plug , plunge , refresh , tutor , weigh

Weak matches

apply oneself , bone up , brood over , burn midnight oil , bury oneself in , crack the books , dive into , go into , go over , hit the books , learn the ropes , mull over , perpend , polish up , read up , think out , think over

verb as in examine, analyze

inspect , investigate , read , research , scrutinize , survey , view

brainstorm , canvass , case , compare , deliberate , figure , peruse , scope

check out , check over , check up , do research , give the eagle eye , keep tabs , look into , sort out

Discover More

Example sentences.

Those studies are scheduled for completion over about the next year and a half.

The study tallied activity in more than a dozen different cryptocurrencies.

More recently, studies have reported on what the infection might do to the heart.

That’s according to a new study published in Science Advances.

The study, published Friday in the journal Environmental Research Letters, found this association in both rural counties in Louisiana and highly populated communities in New York.

She completed a yoga teacher-training program and, in the spring of 2008, went on a retreat in Peru to study with shamans.

In fact, in a recent study of their users internationally, it was the lowest priority for most.

But in the case of black women, another study found no lack of interest.

Indeed, study after study affirms the benefits of involved fatherhood for women and children.

A recent U.S. study found men get a “daddy bonus” —employers seem to like men who have children and their salaries show it.

"There's just one thing I'd like to ask, if you don't mind," said Cynthia, coming suddenly out of a brown study.

His lordship retired shortly to his study, Hetton and Mr. Haggard betook themselves to the billiard-room.

She began the study of drawing at the age of thirty, and her first attempt in oils was made seven years later.

In practice we find a good deal of technical study comes into the college stage.

Its backbone should be the study of biology and its substance should be the threshing out of the burning questions of our day.

Related Words

Words related to study are not direct synonyms, but are associated with the word study . Browse related words to learn more about word associations.

noun as in careful considering

• calculation
• consideration
• deliberation

noun as in nook, secluded spot

• compartment

noun as in statement of results from examination

• interpretation

noun as in examination and determination

• dissolution
• investigation
• subdivision

Viewing 5 / 196 related words

On this page you'll find 307 synonyms, antonyms, and words related to study, such as: application, class, consideration, course, debate, and examination.

From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.

Create powerful business content together.

BONUS : Read the case study how-to guide .

Case Study Template

Good case studies tell a compelling story to potential clients of how your company rose to the occasion. The Case Study Template will help you showcase your company’s credibility in solving a particularly challenging client problem and prove to potential clients that you have what it takes to perform well. Specifically, case studies can help you:

• Highlight your expertise in delivering measurable results based on KPIs.
• Position your brand as an authority in your industry to attract potential customers.
• Provide visual proof of your skills, experience, and expertise as a company.
• Showcase your perseverance in handling difficult projects or campaigns.

Xtensio is your team space for beautiful living documents. Create , manage and share business collateral, easily. Join the 259,673 changemakers.

Other Case Study Templates

How to create an effective Case Study with Xtensio

• Click and start editing, no account or credit card required. Follow along with the instructional copy. Add charts, graphs, images, and videos to customize your case study. Drag & drop. Resize. It’s the easiest editor ever.
• Customize everything to match your brand. Define your style guide; Add your (or your client’s) brand fonts and colors. You can even pull colors directly from a website to easily brand your case studies.
• Work on the key details of your case study together on the cloud. Add colleagues (or clients) to collaborate on the case study template. Changes automatically save and sync across all devices, in real-time.
• Share a link. Present a slideshow. Embed. Download a PDF/PNG. Your case study seamlessly adapts to your workflow. No more jumping from tool-to-tool to create different types of deliverables.
• Reuse and repurpose. Save your own custom case study templates. Or copy and merge into other documents.

Follow along step-by-step with the Case Study how-to guide .

What is a case study?

An effective case study is a great way to show potential clients, customers, and stakeholders how valuable your product or service is by explaining how your business solved a particularly challenging client problem.

Marketing case studies examine a single client situation in-depth and provide a detailed analysis of how your organization resolved the challenge.

The best case studies not only tell a story about your company but also contain some hard measurable metrics. This allows you to highlight your successes in a way that will make an ideal potential customer become your customer. Essentially, a case study is an effective way to learn about your business and a great marketing tool.

When looking for potential projects to use for a case study, look for ones that:

• Involved a particular challenge that required a unique set of skills that your company possesses
• Received special awards, press coverage or accolades
• Involved a high profile project
• Involved a well-known (preferably Fortune 500) brand or company

The most important element of your case study is that it must show a real-life example to relate to your target client. While a good case study showcases your company, a great case study makes the reader want to start a conversation with you.

What information should be included in a case study?

The first thing to consider is who will be reading your case studies. Messages and their delivery resonate differently, depending on who is on the receiving end. For example, a thirty-something software entrepreneur will measure success differently than a fifty-something CEO of a large corporation. Understanding your target audience will help you tell your case study in a way that will effectively speak to them.

When gathering information for your case study, interview happy customers and ask questions to your potential case study subject that align with the story you are trying to tell. No case study will be the same, and your questions will vary from client to client.

Before you contact the customer, consider interview questions so you have an idea of what you need to produce a compelling case study demonstrating your potential to succeed.

At the end of the information-gathering process, you should have a solid understanding of the following to outline how your product was the best solution for the customers’ particular challenge:

• The client’s initial challenge
• Why did the client choose your company
• Your company’s approach to the problem
• The solution and implementation process
• The results and final measures of success

Some questions to ask your client during the initial interview:

• Can you give a brief description of your company?
• How did you first hear about our product or service?
• What challenges or pain points prompted using our product? 
• What were you looking for in a solution to your problem? 
• Did you have any roadblocks while using our product? 

Don’t forget to talk to your colleagues and get their perspectives on the project when writing your case study. You may also want to include some quotes from internal stakeholders or project leads to make an even more compelling case study.

How do you write a case study?

When writing a case study, make sure you know who you’re talking to. Your audience, i.e. who would be interested in your product or service, should be your main focus when you create a case study. Once you’ve compiled your facts, format the story so that it will appeal to potential customers.

The format and content of case study templates vary, but in general, your business case study should look like a strong landing page: brief, pictorial, and engaging.

Xtensio’s case study template includes instructional copy to show you everything you need to know to create a real-life example of your company’s strengths. The template is organized into sections and modules designed to make your case study flow like a well-planned story and we’ve broken the template into three main sections: the snapshot, the body and the footer. 

The Snapshot

This section is designed to give a quick overview of your story and prompt readers to want to learn more. Consider it an executive summary, a book cover, or a brief description in an online store. It should have enough information to grab a potential customer’s attention, but not so much that they will stop reading. Include client details, the project name, and a brief description of the problem, as well as quantitative metrics that demonstrate your accomplishment.

You can also include the date the case study was originally published here to help potential customers identify if your product or service is a good fit for them right now. 

This section is the meat of your case study and will focus on customer results. Like any good story, it will have a beginning, a middle and an end. Classic western storytelling uses a pretty standard formula that includes a problem, the approach taken to solve it, the solution and the end results. The body of Xtensio’s case study template is divided into four key areas that align to these story elements: the Challenge, the Approach, the Solution and the Results. Here, make sure you explain using your product for a certain use case and describe how your service helped the client.

To close your case study, end with a short paragraph about who your company is, as well as your contact information. This is handy if your business case study becomes separated from your company’s website information somehow.

If you plan on sharing the case study online, make sure to add the links to your website and social media handles, using our social media module. If you are planning to print, then don’t forget to spell out the name of your website and/or add a contact phone number and email address.

Invite feedback and participation by your colleagues and the client by inviting them to collaborate on the case study template in real-time. Once you are satisfied with your case study, you can add it to your website, share it on your social channels, use it in presentations, or send out emails to potential clients. You can also download a pdf version that can be printed and shared. 

Design, manage and share beautiful living documents… easily, together. Explore Xtensio

• Click and edit anything… together.
• Customize to match your branding.
• Share with a link, present, embed or download.

Related to the Case Study Template

Fully customizable templates that you can make your own.

See All Templates

Teams use Xtensio to craft and share beautiful living documents .

259,673 users and counting..

Jerome Katz

Professor of Entrepreneurship @

St. Louis University

Jake Peters

Robin Bramman

Founder and Chief Brand Mixologist @

Olakunle Oladehin

Executive Director @

Everybody Dance Now!

Aaron Friedland

The Walking School Bus

Trailblazer360

Stephen Paterson

Chief Product Officer @

AND Digital

Teamspace for beautiful living documents .

259,673 users and counting…

• Book a Demo

How Technology Marketers Lead the Way in AI Experimentation [New Research]

• by Robert Rose
• | Published: February 21, 2024
• | Trends and Research

In a 20-minute demo, the sales engineer deftly clicked through the interface, configured a new image set, assigned the metadata, and set the rights-management properties. He logged in as different users to demonstrate a sophisticated workflow. Then, he published an asset and showed how the system presented it in channel-specific formats.

No fewer than five times, he mentioned how “easy” it was for the business user to do what once only experts could do.

I interrupted him. “Here’s the thing,” I said, “That isn’t easy for someone who doesn’t understand what you’re doing.”  

As technology marketers, what you offer to the world seems simple from the outside. You provide a new tool to help your customers do something they couldn’t before acquiring it. But the more amazing the thing they can now do, the more skilled they usually need to be at using it.

Said another way, a chainsaw in the hands of a lumberjack is a simple tool. But in my hands? It’s an ER trip waiting to happen.  

Today, businesses work with some of the most sophisticated digital technology and interfaces in any industry. But that doesn’t make technology easier to market. It still involves a complex and difficult journey made more challenging by how quickly things change.

We looked at the answers of 272 technology marketers who responded to CMI’s July 2023 survey to find out. (For more information about the full study of 1,084 marketers, see B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends .)

One not-too-surprising finding: Tech content marketers outpace their marketing peers in AI use. More than two-thirds (79%) of tech marketers say they use AI compared with 72% of B2B marketers as a whole and only 58% of enterprise marketers. 

What else to expect this year? Technology marketers say they’ll focus on these things in 2024:

• Increasing traffic, leads, and sales
• Nurturing existing clients
• Leveraging AI for content creation while ensuring authentic, quality content
• Enhancing content creation processes and systems
• Focusing on thought leadership
• Measuring content performance and value.

The most common trends mentioned center around:

• AI proliferation in content creation — with concerns about authenticity and oversaturation.
• Authenticity and uniqueness — valuing human-created content that stands out from AI-generated noise, prioritizing quality over quantity.
• AI’s impact on SEO and content ranking — changes in SEO strategies to accommodate AI algorithms, emphasizing FAQ-oriented and thought leadership content.
• Increased personalization — hyper-personalized content delivery using AI-driven tools to cater to individual personas or niche segments.

Let’s look deeper into the research sponsored by Foundry , an IDG, Inc. company .

Table of contents

Team structure

Content marketing challenges

Use of content types, distribution channels, and paid channels

Social media use

Content management and operations

Measurement and goals

Success factors

Budgets and spending

Action steps

Methodology

Ai use: 79% of technology marketers use generative tools.

Many respondents predicted a rise in the use of AI to generate content . In fact, 79% say they already use AI for content-related tasks. How?

More than half (53%) use generative AI to brainstorm new topics. Around half use the tools to write drafts (48%) and research headlines and keywords (43%). Fewer said they use AI to outline assignments (29%), proofread (19%), generate graphics/images (10%), and create videos (7%) and audio (7%).

Most don’t pay for generative AI tools (yet)

Of those using generative AI tools, 88% use free tools (e.g., ChatGPT ). Thirty-seven percent use tools embedded in their content creation/management systems, and 30% pay for tools like Writer and Jasper .

AI in content remains mostly ungoverned

When asked if their organizations have guidelines for using generative AI tools, 26% said yes, 63% said no, and 11% were unsure.

“Change, especially rapid change, is not something most organizations adapt to quickly,” says Yadin Porter de León , global content marketing executive. “The capabilities of generative AI tools currently represent a form of rapid change that very few people can even grasp. So, it’s no surprise that very few companies have created or communicated guidelines for its use … because they don’t know how.” 

Yadin says marketers should:

• Educate your team members so that they can be, at the very least, AI-literate.
• Establish an AI council to organize activities across the organization.
• Establish clear policies and guidelines for using AI.
• Identify use cases for the business and run pilot projects guided by those principles.

How AI is changing SEO

In the open-ended responses, several respondents predicted AI’s significant impact on SEO. How will AI’s integration in search engines shift technology marketers’ SEO strategy? Here’s what we found:

Twenty-seven percent say they’re not doing any of those things, while 29% say they’re unsure, suggesting that many may be doing little to nothing.

Now is the time to act.

Ryan Brock , chief solution officer at DemandJump, says, “The days of building a keyword list based on metrics like search volume are over … at least for now. Until the dust settles and we collectively figure out what kinds of answers we trust Bard (now known as Gemini) with and which ones will always require a more thoughtful comparison of sources to find, we’ve got to use topical authority as the North Star for our tactical content decisions.”

Ryan thinks of it this way: “I’m still going to be working to answer basic questions as part of my pillar content strategy, but I also acknowledge that answering them works more to build a foundation of topical authority than to drive immediate, convertible traffic.

“Those traffic and conversion-driving queries will become harder to come by than they’ve ever been, so when I find one I need to rank well for, I should be able to do so quickly and efficiently. Competing on a query-by-query level just doesn’t work when every business in a sector sees the same dwindling number of targets.

“Building interconnected, ‘choose-your-own-adventure’ style networks of pillar content is the best way to lay the proper topical authority foundation so you can rank fast when you find a term that’s ripe for true thought leadership.”

Team structure: How does the work get done?

Generative AI isn’t the only issue affecting content marketing these days. We also asked marketers about how they organize their teams .

Among larger technology companies (100-plus employees), more than half (54%) say content requests go through a centralized content team. Others say each department/brand produces its own content (22%), and the departments/brand/products share responsibility (20%). Three percent indicate other, while 1% say they outsource it.

Content strategies integrate with marketing, comms, and sales

Seventy percent say their organizations integrate content strategy into the overall marketing sales/communication/strategy, and 2% say it’s integrated into another strategy. Fourteen percent say content in marketing is a stand-alone strategy, and 4% say it’s a stand-alone strategy for all content produced by the company. Eight percent say they don’t have a content strategy. The remaining 2% say other or are unsure.

Employee churn means new teammates; content teams experience enlightened leadership

Thirty-three percent of technology marketers say team members resigned in the last year, 28% say team members were laid off, and about half (51%) say they had new team members acclimating to their ways of working.

While team members come and go, the understanding of content doesn’t. Fifty percent strongly agree, and 30% somewhat agree that the leader to whom their content team reports understands the work they do. Only 14% disagree. The remaining 6% neither agree nor disagree.

And remote work seems well-tolerated: Only 21% say collaboration is challenging due to remote or hybrid work.

Content marketing challenges: The right content, lack of resources

Most technology marketers (61%) cite creating the right content for their audience as a challenge.

Other content creation challenges include differentiating content (58%), creating content consistently (49%), creating quality content (43%), optimizing for SEO (43%), creating enough content to keep up with internal demand (40%), and creating content that requires technical skills (36%). One in four (25%) say they are challenged to create enough content to keep up with external demand.

Other hurdles

The most frequently cited non-creation challenge, by far, is a lack of resources (66%), followed by aligning content efforts across sales and marketing (52%) and aligning content with the buyer’s journey (52%). Forty-five percent say they have difficulty accessing subject matter experts, and 44% say they are challenged with workflow issues/content approval processes. Only 28% cite keeping up with new technologies as a challenge, 27% pick a lack of strategy, 12% say keeping up with privacy rules, and 13% point to tech integration issues.

Use of content types, distribution channels, and paid channels: Staying at the top

We asked technology marketers about the types of content they produce, their distribution channels , and paid content promotion. We also asked which formats and channels produce the best results.

Popular content types and formats

As in the previous year, the three most popular content types are short articles/posts (96%), case studies/customer stories (93%), and videos (90%). Eighty-two percent use thought leadership e-books/white papers, 81% use long articles/posts, 63% use data visualizations/visual content, 62% use product/technical data sheets, and 56% use research reports. Less than half of technology marketers use brochures (45%), interactive content (35%), livestreaming content (34%), and audio content (31%).

Effective content types and formats

Which formats are most effective?

Fifty-nine percent say case studies/customer stories deliver some of the best results. Almost as many (57%) name thought leadership e-books/white papers. Slightly more than half say research reports (53%) and videos (51%).

Popular content distribution channels

Regarding the channels used to distribute content, 90% use blogs and social media platforms (organic), followed by webinars (79%), email newsletters (78%), and email (74%). Sixty-four percent use in-person events, and 58% use digital events.

Less frequently used channels include:

• Microsites (40%)
• Podcasts (30%)
• Hybrid events (24%)
• Branded online communities (23%)
• Digital magazines (21%)
• Direct mail (19%)
• Online learning platform (18%)
• Print magazines (12%)
• Mobile apps (7%)
• Separate content brands (3%).

Effective content distribution channels

Which channels perform the best? Most surveyed tech marketers point to webinars (56%) and in-person events (53%). Forty-four percent say blogs, 43% pick email, and 37% say social media platforms (organic).

Popular paid content channels

When technology marketers pay to promote content , which channels do they invest in? Ninety-three percent use paid content distribution channels.

Of those, 77% use social media advertising/promoted posts, 71% use sponsorships, 70% use search engine marketing/pay-per-click, and 66% use digital display advertising. Around one in three use native advertising (38%) and partner emails (33%). Far fewer invest in print display advertising (11%).

Effective paid content channels

Search engine marketing and pay-per-click produce good results, according to 61% of tech marketers. Fifty-three percent say sponsorships deliver good results, followed by social media advertising/promoted posts (43%) and partner emails (34%).

Social media use: One platform rises way above

When asked which organic social media platforms deliver the best value for their organization, technology marketers (92%) pick LinkedIn. Twenty-seven percent cite YouTube as a top performer, 18% say Facebook, and 10% pick Instagram and Twitter. Only 1% cite TikTok.

It makes sense that 73% say they increased their use of LinkedIn over the last 12 months, while only 36% boosted their YouTube presence, 19% increased Instagram use, 15% grew their Facebook presence, 12% increased X use, and 9% increased TikTok use.

Which platforms are marketers giving up? Did you guess X? You’re right — 34% of marketers say they decreased their X use. Twenty-four percent reduced their use of Facebook, with 14% decreasing on Instagram and YouTube, 3% pulling back on TikTok, and only 2% decreasing their use of LinkedIn.

Interestingly, we saw a significant rise in technology marketers who use TikTok: 17% say they use the platform, which is triple from last year (5%).

Content management and operations: The right tech isn’t a guarantee

To explore how teams manage content, we asked tech marketers about their technology use and investments and the challenges they face scaling their content .

Content management technology

Among the technologies used to manage content, technology marketers point to:

• Analytics tools (82%)
• Social media publishing/analytics (73%)
• Email marketing software (71%)
• Content creation/calendaring/collaboration/workflow (66%)
• Content management system (58%)
• Customer relationship management system (57%)
• Marketing automation system (38%)
• Sales enablement platform (30%)
• Digital asset management (DAM) system (24%)

But having technology doesn’t mean it’s the right technology (or its capabilities are used). Only 29% say they have the right tech to manage content across the organization. Thirty-two percent say they have the technology but aren’t using its potential, and 28% say they haven’t acquired the right technology. Eleven percent are unsure.

Even so, 40% of technology marketers say their organization is likely to invest in new technology in 2024; however, another 39% say it’s unlikely. Twenty-one percent say their organization is neither likely nor unlikely to invest.

Scaling content production

This year, we introduced a new question to understand what challenges technology marketers face while scaling content production .

Almost half (49%) say it’s a lack of communication across silos, and the same number say it’s not enough content repurposing. Thirty-one percent say they have no structured content production process, and 29% say they lack an editorial calendar with clear deadlines. Six percent say scaling is not a current focus.

Among the other hurdles are difficulty locating digital content assets (19%), translation/localization issues (17%), technology issues (15%), and no style guide (13%).

Measurement and goals: Generating sales and revenue rises

Almost half (43%) of technology marketers agree their organization measures content performance effectively — but the same amount (43%) disagree. Thirteen percent neither agree nor disagree. Only 1% say they don’t measure content performance.

The four most frequently used metrics to assess content performance are conversions (77%), website traffic (73%), email engagement (72%), and website engagement (70%). Sixty percent say they rely on quality of leads, 58% use social media analytics, 55% rely on search ratings, and 52% say quantity of leads. Less than half use tracking the cost to acquire a lead, subscriber, and/or customer (32%) and email subscribers (31%).

The most common challenge measuring content performance experienced by technology marketers is integrating/correlating data across multiple platforms (88%), followed by extracting insights from data (82%), tying performance data to goals (81%), organizational goal setting (73%), and lack of training (71%).

Among the goals assisted by content marketing, 82% of technology marketers say it created brand awareness in the last 12 months. Eighty percent say it helped generate demands/leads, 71% say it helped nurture subscribers/audiences/leads, and 61% say it helped generate sales revenue (up from 48% the previous year).

Less than half say it helped grow loyalty with existing clients/customers (46%), grow a subscribed audience (42%), and reduce customer support costs (14%).

Success factors: Know your audience

To separate top performers from the pack, we asked technology marketers to assess the success of their content marketing.

Twenty-seven percent rate the organization’s success as extremely or very successful. Another 58% report moderate success, and 15% feel minimally or not at all successful.

The most common factor for successful technology marketers is knowing their audience (81%).

That success factor makes sense because “creating the right content for our audience” is the top challenge. Top-performing content marketers prioritize knowing their audiences to create the right content for those audiences.

Top performers also set goals that align with their organization’s objectives (74%), have a documented strategy (67%), and collaborate with other teams (64%). Thought leadership (62%) and effectively measuring and demonstrating content performance (59%) also help top technology performers reach content marketing success.

Several other dimensions identify the differentiators of top technology performers:

• 75% of the most successful say they’re backed by leaders who understand their work. In contrast, just 50% of all tech respondents feel their leaders understand.
• They’re less likely to report a lack of resources (57% of top performers say they lack resources vs. 66% of all tech content marketers).
• They’re more likely to have the right content management technologies. About half (49%) of the top performers say they have the technology they need, compared with 29% of all tech marketers.
• Nearly three-fourths (74%) of top performers say they measure content performance effectively, compared with 43% of the whole set of tech marketers.
• They are more likely to use content marketing successfully to create brand awareness (96% vs. 82%), nurture subscribers/audiences/leads (82% vs. 71%), generate sales/revenue (81% vs. 61%), grow loyalty with existing customers/clients (64% vs. 46%), and grow a subscribed audience (57% vs. 42%).

Little difference exists between top performers and all respondents when it comes to the adoption of generative AI tools and related guidelines.

Budgets and spending: Holding steady

To explore budget plans for 2024, we asked technology marketers about their knowledge of their organization’s budget/budgeting process for content marketing. Of the 53% who have knowledge of their budgets, we followed up to assess the specifics.

Content marketing as a percentage of total marketing spend

Here’s what they say about the total marketing budget (excluding salaries):

• 18% say content marketing consumes at least one-fourth of the total marketing budget.
• More than one in three (37%) indicate that 10% to 24% of the marketing budget goes to content marketing.
• Just under half (45%) say less than 10% of the marketing budget goes to content marketing.

Content marketing budget outlook for 2024

Forty-eight percent think their content marketing budget will increase this year compared with 2023, whereas 39% think it will stay the same. Only 7% think it will decrease, and 6% are unsure.

Where will the budget go?

Next, we asked where respondents plan to increase their spending.

Sixty-nine percent of technology marketers say they would increase their investment in video, followed by in-person events (60%), thought leadership content (54%), webinars (41%), paid advertising (40%), online community building (27%), audio content (22%), digital events (21%), and hybrid events (11%).

Of course, content doesn’t exist in a vacuum.

Kami Buckner , HPC solutions marketing manager at Dell Technologies, notes that content must be integrated into a larger plan and support the customer journey by driving them to other content.

“Videos, in-person events, and thought leadership content may rank similarly in this survey because they are often developed to complement each other,” she says. “Thought leadership content is an important component of any event plan, and videos are an effective peripheral asset that can engage an audience to generate interest in downloading long-form thought leadership pieces, generate excitement before and after events, and be displayed at the event.”

For example, Dell developed a 15-second video to use on social media to drive viewers to a landing page, which hosted the 60-second sizzle reel to promote an upcoming event. We also:

• Launched thought leadership content around the video and event.
• Created and displayed another video at the event highlighting key points in the new thought leadership content that could be shared post-event.
• Developed a virtual reality experience for the event that built credibility for Dell Technologies, both hosting and serving thought leadership content.

Action steps: What tech marketers should do

These results from tech marketers reflect what we find across other B2B organizations. You should know your audience, lean into brand awareness, integrate data across the buyer’s journey, and invest more in thought leadership, events, and video.

But what should you prioritize as a technology marketer? Given where you are in 2024 and your relationship with modern technology, put these three things at the top of your list:

• Lean into the brand and develop relationships early and often . Marketing pundits laugh at the idea of technology companies developing “relationships” with audiences and buyers. They cynically surmise, “Nobody wants a relationship with their hydraulic actuator provider.” That may be true, but it doesn’t relieve you from trying. Today’s world makes it more imperative that technology companies differentiate, not just by providing the fastest, cheapest, easiest, or most scalable product on the market. You must also differentiate by helping customers be the best versions of themselves. As I used to say to my marketing team, “Our competitive advantage isn’t that we help people become better digital asset managers; it’s that we help digital asset managers become better people.” That leads to the second action.
• Grow owned media’s importance in your products and services. A differentiating strategy provides a reason for people to engage with you outside the small portion of their lives that goes into their buying journey. Owned media experiences create an ecosystem of value for your customers in the pre- and post-buying journey, foster a competitive advantage, and celebrate the complexity your products inherently induce. Yes, your tools are complex and sophisticated and do amazing things. Let you be the source of how to do those things better than anyone else.
• Connect first-party data. How you connect your buyers’ digital interactions will be the fabric that develops better relationships with your customers. If you understand their true intentions, needs, and wants, and more importantly, how they evolve, you can optimize every experience that leads and follows a sale. Of course, you likely must make big changes to implement any one or all three of these action steps. An audit, where you examine all your customers’ content-driven experiences along their journey, can help you develop a plan for which ones to keep, which should change, and which should be sunset for good. Creating this ecosystem gives you the power to transform what is seen as overly complex and hard into a worthwhile evolution and innovation. Your technology is not there to make the customer’s journey “easy” — it’s there to make it “worth it!” 

For the 14 th annual content marketing survey, CMI and MarketingProfs surveyed 1,080 recipients around the globe in July 2023, representing a range of industries, functional areas, and company sizes. The survey was emailed to a sample of marketers using lists from CMI and MarketingProfs.

This article presents the findings from the 272 respondents, mostly from North America, who indicated their organization is a technology company and that they are either content marketers or work in marketing, communications, or other roles involving content.

Of this group, 84% represent B2B companies, while 13% work for B2B+B2C brands, and 3% say they work for a tech company of a different nature. Thirty-six percent work at businesses with more than 1,000 employees, 36% work at places with between 100 and 999 employees, 23% work for brands with 10 to 99 employees, and 5% work at tech companies with between one and nine employees.

Thanks to the survey participants who made this research possible and everyone who helped disseminate these findings throughout the content marketing industry.

Interested in sharing the key takeaways from this report with your team or associates? You can download a summary here (registration required).

Get the latest Content Marketing Institute research reports while they're hot – subscribe to the daily or weekly newsletter.

Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute

About Content Marketing Institute

Content Marketing Institute (CMI) exists to do one thing: advance the practice of content marketing through online education and in-person and digital events. We create and curate content experiences that teach marketers and creators from enterprise brands, small businesses, and agencies how to attract and retain customers through compelling, multichannel storytelling. Global brands turn to CMI for strategic consultation, training, and research. Organizations from around the world send teams to Content Marketing World, the largest content marketing-focused event, the Marketing Analytics & Data Science (MADS) conference, and CMI virtual events, including ContentTECH Summit. Our community of 215,000+ content marketers shares camaraderie and conversation. CMI is organized by Informa Connect. To learn more, visit www.contentmarketinginstitute.com .

About Foundry, an IDG Inc. company

Foundry helps companies bring their visions to reality through a combination of media, marketing technologies and proprietary data on a global scale. Our intent data and martech platforms are powered by data from an owned and operated ecosystem of global editorial brands, awards, and events, all engineered and integrated to drive marketing campaigns for technology companies. Foundry is dedicated to generating and innovating with data, driving demand for technology marketers with 38 offices in markets around the globe. Foundry is a wholly owned subsidiary of International Data Group, Inc. ( IDG ), the world’s leading tech media, data, research and marketing services company. To learn more about Foundry, visit www.foundryco.com .

Robert Rose

• Shopping Cart

AI in Marketing and Communications. Explore the transformative potential and practical applications of Gen AI sharing use cases, case studies and discussing how AI could be used in your institution.

In this session on AI and Generative AI we will explore the transformative potential and practical applications within marketing and communications in Higher Education. With a focus on broadening your understanding of AI and Generative AI capabilities, we will highlight specific use cases that illustrate the application of AI, and key risks that should be considered in implementation. We will discuss where AI could be leveraged in your own institutions.

Popular Searches

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

Here's how you know

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( Lock A locked padlock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

CASE STUDY: Building Mutually Beneficial Partnerships With Universities—A Focus on the Martinsburg, West Virginia, Initiative

This brief published by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP) highlights the Martinsburg, West Virginia, Initiative (TMI) at Shepherd University.

This publication by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP) provides a case study on building relationships with universities. The Martinsburg, West Virginia, Initiative (TMI) has engaged Shepherd University in efforts to support evaluation and workforce development. TMI has trained more than 15 social work interns through this partnership and has responded to more than 433 referrals for students and families. TMI is a community-based effort to break the cycle of substance use disorder (SUD) and build strong families. The initiative is based on research linking adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) with a range of negative outcomes during adulthood, such as reduced employment rates, increased risk of chronic diseases, and increased risk of mental health problems. Shepherd University provides TMI with support using data analytics and evaluation measures to strengthen implementation and sustainability. The TMI partnerships are strengthened through regular collaborative meetings to provide opportunities for different sectors to share updates and resources with each other. The initiative offers programming in schools and through community partners, along with a number of other support services. TMI utilizes social workers to deliver many of its services because they are uniquely positioned to provide trauma-informed care while promoting social change and development. Indeed, licensed social workers play key roles in the various services that TMI supports. Bringing Shepherd University into the initiative as a major partner has enabled both TMI and the university to expand their work in Martinsburg and serves as an example to other communities that are considering partnerships with higher education to meet the diverse needs of youth and families in addressing SUDs.

Additional Details

Related topics, similar publications.

• Case Study: Incorporating ODMAP Data in the Overdose Fatality Review Process
• Overdose Fatality Review: Next-of-Kin Phone and Voicemail Guidelines
• Applying a Developmental Evaluation Approach to Address Community Safety and Health Challenges of Reintegration Programs in the USA

• Open access
• Published: 22 July 2022

Nursing students’ use of social media in their learning: a case study of a Canadian School of Nursing

• Catherine M. Giroux   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1352-8501 1 &
• Katherine A. Moreau   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5955-1689 2  

BMC Nursing volume  21 , Article number:  195 ( 2022 ) Cite this article

14k Accesses

7 Citations

1 Altmetric

Metrics details

Social media has diverse applications for nursing education. Current literature focuses on how nursing faculty use social media in their courses and teaching; less is known about how and why nursing students use social media in support of their learning.

The purpose of this study was to explore how nursing students use social media in their learning formally and informally.

This exploratory qualitative case study of a Canadian School of Nursing reports on the findings of interviews ( n  = 9) with nursing students to explore how they use social media in their learning. Data were analyzed using a combined deductive and inductive coding approach, using three cycles of coding to facilitate category identification.

Results and conclusions

The findings demonstrate that participants use social media for formal and informal learning and specifically, as a third space to support their learning outside of formal institutional structures. Social media plays a role in the learning activities of nursing students studying both face-to-face and by distance. Accordingly, social media use has implications for learning theory and course design, particularly regarding creating space for student learning communities.

Peer Review reports

Social media are online platforms that allow users to connect with other users, curate lists of connections, and interact with each other within the same online platform [ 1 ]. They have applications for both formal and informal learning in health professions education (HPE). Formal learning refers to planned educational experiences, such as courses or assignments [ 2 ] whereas informal learning refers to what is learned through extracurricular activities [ 3 , 4 ]. With social media, formal learning may include such activities as using YouTube videos in class, while informal learning may involve students scrolling through Twitter and finding relevant learning content on their leisure time. Within the HPE literature, social media have been shown to facilitate electronic communication, networking, and real-time collaboration [ 5 , 6 ]. They have also assumed key educational and communicative roles during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 7 , 8 , 9 ]. Furthermore, they continue to allow individuals to engage in independent, informal learning on their own terms and in places of formal education, work, or broader social circles [ 10 ]. Several studies demonstrated how social media can be used to facilitate clinical and professional performance tasks, question-and-answer sessions, and the exploration of complex topics collaboratively; social media can also provide professional learning opportunities and facilitate networking with international practitioners [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]. Moreover, instructors have used Twitter to provide students with formative feedback in assessment, stimulate reflection and sharing, share daily learning goals, hold journal clubs, notify students of recent topical publications, and orient learners to clinical sites and educational rotations [ 15 , 16 , 17 ]. The literature suggests that the connections that students make using social media can translate to opportunities for mentorship and scholarship [ 18 ]. Moreover, social media may also engage geographically dispersed individuals to create or share content, collaborate in groups, and ultimately form a virtual community [ 19 , 20 ].

Within the nursing education literature, social media is well described as a tool selected by faculty for diverse formal teaching and learning purposes. For instance, several studies described using blogging to facilitate reflections as a teaching strategy for topics such as cultural competence, empathy, the therapeutic relationship, transitions to practice, and self-care [ 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ]. The feedback system of the blogging interface provided students with opportunities to practice their reflection and problem-solving skills [ 26 , 27 ]. Some studies used social media to simulate patient encounters or transition experiences for nurses [ 25 , 28 , 29 ]. For example, Thomas et al. used a blog to simulate a new nurse who had just transitioned to practice; the blog was written from the new nurse’s perspective to help final year nursing students consider issues of delegating and supervising, adapting to change, risk and quality management, and legal and ethical issues as they prepared to transition to practice [ 25 ]. Students had to read the blog and post responses. Other studies focused on using Facebook or YouTube as collaborative and interactive tools to help nursing students prepare for examinations like the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) [ 30 , 31 , 32 ]. Still, issues of professionalism arose in the nursing education literature, with some studies noting concerns about students’ online behaviour and potential implications for their reputations and licensure [ 5 , 33 ]. A 2021 narrative review found that learning about digital professionalism concepts as they relate to social media influenced how students behaved online [ 34 ]. Despite these potential professionalism implications, social media appears to be an effective tool to support formal learning in nursing education. A 2018 systematic review explored the effectiveness of using social media in nursing and midwifery education [ 35 ]. The authors found that the collaborative, interactive, and semi-synchronous nature of social media platforms may support knowledge and skill acquisition in nursing students.

Much of the extant undergraduate nursing education literature explores how social media is used in formal learning, specifically from the perspectives of the faculty who select the platforms to suit specific assignments or learning goals. Studies that focus on undergraduate students’ use of social media tended to explore specific platforms used and data analytics (i.e., hashtags used, number of views or shares). Less is known about how and why undergraduate nursing students themselves select social media platforms as an adjunct to their formal and informal learning activities. Thus, this exploratory qualitative case study aimed to address how and why undergraduate nursing students use social media to support their learning.

Theoretical considerations

Social learning theories like social constructivism are appropriate for framing studies involving social media because they view learning as an active and collaborative process [ 36 , 37 , 38 ]. Social constructivism is based on three assumptions: (1) meanings are constructed by humans as they engage with the world they are interpreting; (2) humans engage with their world and make sense of it based on their historical and social perspectives; and (3) the basic generation of meaning is social, arising from the interaction with a human community [ 36 ]. Social constructivism claims knowledge is acquired when subjective meanings are created in interaction with others, drawing on material from previous experiences to guide learning [ 36 , 37 , 38 ]. This study was informed by social constructivism, which influenced our research questions, data collection instruments, and approaches to data analysis.

Research design

The objective of this study was to explore how students at one Canadian School of Nursing used social media to support their learning. We addressed this objective through an exploratory qualitative single case study. Yin [ 39 ] describes a case study as an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon in depth within its real-world context even when the boundaries between the context and phenomenon may not be evident. Case studies comprise an all-encompassing method, which influences the logic of design, data collection techniques, and approaches to data analyses. Case study research is particularly useful for answering how and why questions; single case studies are appropriate for cases that are critical, unusual, revelatory, and longitudinal [ 39 ]. Our study site represented a critical case since the variety of program delivery methods and modalities were critically aligned with social constructivism. The study site also represented an unusual case, with four distinct program options – including a distance program – for students to achieve a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) degree. This was a unique program in Canada at the time of the study. The study site did not have any social media policies published to their public-facing website during the time of the study, nor did they have any public-facing references to using social media formally in their programs published on their website.

Case study site and participants

This study took place at a small, relatively northern, Canadian university with a student population of approximately 5,090 students [ 40 ]. The School of Nursing, which includes 1191 students, offers four distinct, English-language, options for students to complete their BScN degree. These options include: 1) a standard four-year direct-entry nursing program; 2) an onsite Registered Practical Nurse (RPN) to BScN bridging program for students who previously obtained an RPN diploma and who are looking to subsequently obtain their BScN degree; 3) a part-time blended learning RPN to BScN bridging program for students currently working as RPNs who are looking to obtain their BScN; and 4) a second entry accelerated program for students who previously obtained an undergraduate degree. Only two of the nursing programs occur at the case study site itself. The second entry program is held in a large city to the south of the case study site. Additionally, students who partake in the RPN to BScN bridging program through blended learning live geographically dispersed throughout the province in which the case study site is located. Given the different program options, the participants in this study consisted of a mixture of face-to-face students and distance students. Additionally, due to the nature of the program options, some participants had pursued their nursing program as their first degree while others were already working as RPNs and had returned to school to obtain their BScN degree.

Participant recruitment and data collection

Participants were purposively recruited from a previous study, which consisted of a digital artifact collection that explored what content nursing students shared to their Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts related to learning [ 41 ]. The twenty-four nursing students who participated in our previous study were contacted by email and invited to participate in this qualitative case study exploring how and why nursing students use social media to support their learning. These students were identified as potential participants because they had confirmed using social media for learning and thus, would be information-rich interviewees for the present study. All potential participants were provided with a Participant Information Letter and Informed Consent form. The data for this study were collected using semi-structured interviews. All interviews were conducted virtually via Zoom in the Fall of 2019, using a semi-structured interview guide that had been developed based on the research questions, our theoretical framework, and the literature (refer to Additional file 1 : Appendix). Prior to using the interview guide, it was piloted with two registered nurses. This pilot involved conducting two mock interviews and debriefing the interview guide with the participants to discuss the feasibility and appropriateness of the interview questions. The average interview length was 32 min, with the shortest being 21 min and the longest being 44 min long. We piloted the interview guide with two registered nurses prior to commencing the study. Each interview was audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Interview participation was incentivized with a $20 gift card to a local coffee chain.

Data analysis

We took a combined deductive and inductive approach to coding and analyzing the interview transcripts. We sought to achieve theoretical sufficiency, which is the stage at which codes and categories manage new data without requiring further modification [ 42 ]. To do this, we conducted three cycles of coding in MAXQDA (v.18.2). In the first cycle, a preliminary codebook − which was informed by our research question, theoretical framework, and the literature − facilitated descriptive and process coding [ 43 ]. In the second cycle of coding, we each independently inductively coded the data using both process coding and in vivo coding (i.e., using the participants’ own words) and compared and discussed our coding. In the third cycle of coding, we grouped these summaries into categories, themes, or constructs [ 43 ]. A combination of matrices and networks visually displayed the data and facilitated category identification [ 43 , 44 ].

Reflexivity and trustworthiness

Neither author is a Registered Nurse nor is affiliated with the case study site. Both authors have expertise in conducting educational research within the health professions and were involved in the study conceptualization, data collection, and analysis. We also took steps to ensure that our analyses were credible, dependable, confirmable, and transferable [ 45 , 46 ]. To establish credibility, we engaged in member-checking, wherein we provided the participants a copy of their interview transcripts so that they could ensure that their statements were accurately represented during transcription [ 45 , 47 ]. We also engaged in peer debriefing. In terms of dependability, each of us inductively coded the data, compared our coding, and discussed and resolved any inconsistencies. In addition, we used audit trails as a strategy to ensure confirmability. These audit trails documented each of our decisions made during the research process and would allow an independent auditor to follow our steps and decisions to establish the same conclusions about the data. Lastly, through purposeful sampling and information-rich interviewees, we were able to obtain thick descriptions of how and why the students use social media to support their learning. We also included detailed descriptions of our research processes. This level of description allows others to judge the contextual similarity and transferability of our study findings.

Ethical considerations

The interviews received formal institutional ethical approval (S-08–18-921) and approval from the study site (101916) in August 2019. We reviewed the informed consent form with each participant prior to commencing the interview and addressed any questions that they had. All participants verbally consented to participate in an interview and participants’ consent was recorded using Zoom video conference software, in accordance with our research ethics board approval.

Nine nursing students ( n  = 9) participated in the individual interviews. All participants were female and ranged in age from 18 to 49. Five participants attended classes online in a blended program format that occurred by distance and four participants attended classes face-to-face. The findings demonstrate that participants used social media in numerous ways for both formal and informal learning purposes. Table 1 provides a thematic overview of how the nursing student participants use social media in support of their learning.

Formal learning

Participants reported using social media for a variety of purposes pertaining to formal learning. Table 2 provides exemplary participant quotes outlining their experiences using social media for formal learning purposes.

Sharing and clarifying course content

Several participants reported using social media to share content related to their courses and to clarify course content. Participant 7 explained how “when it comes to having, like, a large quantity of information, I think Facebook’s a better platform for that. Um, you’re able to share different links, you’re able to share pictures, videos, news articles, almost anything, it seems now”. Two participants (Participants 05 and 07) shared contrasting experiences with using social media formally in their distance classes to clarify course concepts. In this instance, a professor had shared YouTube videos in the course. While Participant 7 appreciated the inclusion of videos, Participant 5 found this approach to be lazy, especially since the professor did not create the videos but rather included videos that, according to Participant 5, students would likely search for on their own to assist their learning.

Supplementing university services

Eight participants indicated that Facebook was a good platform to supplement or highlight existing university services. Participant 5 explained how, as a distance student, they used Facebook to learn about the services available to students, like the university’s tutoring service, which Participant 5 found helpful for statistics. Participant 6 described how they used Facebook specifically for sharing course resources, since that platform might be easier at times than the typical learning management system.

Assignments and exams

The participants described using social media as a mechanism to complete their course assignments and to study for course exams and the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX). Social media appeared to be involved in the process of completing assignments; it also appeared to be the product of some assignments. Participant 5 described how “any group projects that we have to do would, which in an online program seems a little silly to me to do group projects but, um, we’d have to find a way to collaborate and it was often over Facebook or that sort of thing”. Participant 1 described creating a social media campaign for their community health class to help parents access vision care for their school-age children. Participant 3 shared how they found posts about how to pass the NCLEX the first time shared to social media and Participant 2 explained how they use social media to review for their course exams by dividing course content up amongst a small group of students and sharing review notes and summaries online. Participant 2 also described using social media platforms like Reddit to understand the patient experience based on what patients choose to share to these sites.

Informal learning

Participants indicated that they used social media for diverse informal learning purposes. Table 3 provides an overview of participants’ experiences using social media for informal learning.

Creating community

By far, students shared the value of social media for connecting with peers and the nursing community most frequently. Four participants spoke about how social media promotes connection between distance students. Participant 3 shared how social media “gives you that camaraderie that you’re missing in a classroom environment”. Four out of the five students who identified as an online student cited Facebook groups as being an important mechanism for connecting with their classmates who were spread throughout the province. One participant explained how “there is a group online, uh, [School Name] distance ed students so I use that quite a bit, um, just to get information on classes, um, what to expect from different professors, etc.” Five participants shared how social media helped them combat isolation in their learning. Participant 2 emphasized the importance of social media for connecting distance students, which was important since they did not have the same opportunities to meet their classmates face-to-face. Participant 1 described how participating in Facebook groups helped enhance both the academic and social aspects of their face-to-face learning experience. Participant 4 explained how “we find it’s been really useful, or even like finding little things, like finding rides to clinical and stuff like that. Like obviously not all of us can afford vehicles and stuff like that so just by helping each other out”. In fact, every participant who identified as a face-to-face student ( n  = 4) spoke about the importance of Facebook groups to their learning experience since they contributed to building community and sharing resources.

Similarly, six participants shared how social media connected them with the broader nursing community, outside of their programs and university. Participant 6 described how social media could connect people across the country with experts in the field and the resources they have created. Participant 9 explained how social media could be used to “take my learning outside of the avenues that can be addressed and presented within a program or any program, really. So, it allows you to kind of step outside of that, see what’s happening with other people, how they’re learning…” Participant 1 described how social media allows them to connect with the nursing community on both social and academic levels through sharing memes and experiences on platforms like Instagram and Facebook. Participant 3 shared how social media “probably gives a good, like, um, a good alternative perspective on things, other than the teacher’s”.

‘Behind the scenes’ knowledge sharing

While the participants often spoke about content that was publicly available to them on social media, they also shared how they used social media for informal learning purposes in private or ‘behind the scenes’ ways. Five nursing students reported using social media to buy, sell, and share PDF versions of textbooks. Participant 5 shared how “people share PDFs of textbooks and all that sort of stuff, so it’s definitely saved me several hundred dollars”. Two participants expressed how they prefer social media to textbooks. Participant 9 described how their professors are “not the biggest towards textbooks because they said that the second they are printed they are out of date because of how fast information is changing within healthcare”. In this sense, Participant 9 found social media to be a helpful way to stay up to date with information that textbooks did not provide.

Similarly, three participants described using social media to discuss which professors were the best for each class. Participant 2 explained how “we often talk about which professors are the best for specific courses and so those classes tend to fill up really fast”. Participant 5 described how they use social media to ask questions about the university, share their perceptions of certain professors, and discuss which classes should or should not be taken at the same time. While eight of the nine interview participants actively participated in social media groups, three participants shared that the absence of faculty members in the social media groups could be problematic. Participant 2 suggested using more of the collaborative tools available on the university’s learning management system to eliminate some of the need for the social media groups and better include the faculty members. Participant 5 also found the absence of faculty members in the social media groups to be a problem and recommended involving faculty members in the private groups to correct misinformation and answer questions.

Scaffolding knowledge

In addition to sharing resources, three students indicated that the Facebook groups were essential for giving and receiving support throughout their nursing programs. Similarly, five nursing students shared how they use social media to review their clinical skills. Three participants used social media to review IV insertion. Participant 7 described how “I use Instagram, I follow someone, she, her, her tag is IV Queen or something like that, but she gives a lot of intravenous tips on how to insert IVs and how to care for them”. Participant 3 also described using YouTube videos to review IV compatibility. Participant 1 shared how they used YouTube to practice for their IV therapy lab. Participant 1 also described how “we have used some YouTube videos and tutorials and stuff in our labs where we’re able to view, like, for example just last week we were learning about central lines, um, so we looked at a video about how to do the dressing change for a central line”. Participant 1 also described how they use YouTube to learn about skills like ambulating patients prior to starting their surgical rotation so that they would understand what they were about to do on the rotation.

Why use social media

The study participants presented several reasons to use social media in support of their formal and informal learning activities; similarly, they also presented several reasons to be cautious of using social media for these purposes. Table 4 presents an overview of exemplary participant quotations presented thematically.

Credibility and relevance of sources

Seven participants discussed the credibility and relevance of the sources they found on social media. Participant 7 indicated that they find their friends and followers on social media do not tend to share a lot of content that “I don’t consider real, like the fake news, but it’s a lot of more credible sources, like major journal articles and stuff like that”. Participant 4 expressed that students are taking a risk in depending on social media rather than on their books and their notes. Other students, like Participant 6, emphasized the importance of developing critical thinking skills and being able to filter social media posts so that they could appropriately determine which sources were accurate or credible. Participant 8 indicated that relying on social media links provided by course professors was helpful since “you know if the instructors are posting those videos, then you know that they’re credible sources.”

Professors and professionalism

All nine nursing students shared how their professors, programs, and the importance of professionalism influenced their use of social media. Four participants shared that, perhaps with the exception of YouTube videos, their professors did not use social media in their teaching and discouraged its use by nursing students. Participant 6 explained that “social media is kind of shunned a lot in nursing because of that whole idea of don’t post anything, don’t share your clinical experiences and don’t, you know, breach privacy.” In some instances, participants reported that their professors did not use social media in their teaching but encouraged students to use it to complete course assignments, like learning portfolios. Participant 4 shared that “[the professors] really like the idea of us working together on things and utilizing each other to keep on track”, especially as it related to support during clinical placements.” Other participants described their professors incorporating podcasts, videos, and Reddit into their courses, which encouraged their use of social media for learning. Still, several participants expressed concerns related to professionalism on social media. Participant 3 explained how “I definitely avoid posting about like, things that involve substance use. I feel like there’s added pressure on people in certain, in various professions like healthcare and police that you should avoid because you’re supposed to uphold a certain image of the profession.”

Convenience and accessibility

Several participants discussed the convenience of social media. Two participants shared how it was easier for communication purposes than other methods (i.e., emails, calls, texts). Other participants described how social media provided a central repository for resources that could be easily accessed by classmates. However, Participants 3 and 5 highlighted some challenges to accessibility because of using social media for learning, notably poor internet connection and lack of transcriptions or alternative formats.

Engagement and distraction

Four participants shared how they found social media to be an engaging platform for learning in their nursing education. Participant 4 explained how social media helps highlight major class concepts in a variety of formats, which can be helpful for different learners. Several participants spoke about growing up with social media and how their previous experiences motivated them to use it as a tool to support their nursing education. Participant 6 explained how “I kind of grew up with technology and grew up with social media that I just know how to use it and know how to access it and don’t have a problem filtering out what I don’t need.” Despite how participants felt about social media’s potential for engagement, they also found it potentially distracting. This was a common theme amongst both face-to-face and distance students. Participant 2 described ending up in a “Facebook vortex, where I end up being on it for 2 h, not necessarily on that [program specific] group.”

The nursing student participants described multiple ways of using social media to support their learning. None of the students in this study described using social media for the same creative formal experiences as those published by Thomas et al. [ 25 ] wherein a course instructor developed a simulated student on Facebook for nursing students to interact with online. However, a couple of students outlined their experiences being required to use sites like Reddit to learn about the patient experience. Additionally, some participants described how they used social media to develop patient-oriented health advocacy campaigns for healthcare organizations, effectively demonstrating how social media is being used in their formal nursing education. The ways in which the nursing students use social media to support their formal learning demonstrate social media’s collaborative capacity for knowledge and information exchange for both on-campus and distance students [ 6 , 48 , 49 ]. The study participants used social media creatively to support their formal education; for instance, participants referenced program-specific Facebook groups where they could collectively decide on questions that they needed to ask their professors in class. This finding is consistent with that of Junco et al. [ 50 ], where they found social media to be a low-stress method for students to ask questions of their peers and educators.

Informally, participants indicated using social media to refresh their clinical skills before applying them in lab settings or during clinical rotations. While the findings of this study do not directly touch on the use of social media at the point-of-care, studies like that conducted by Hay et al. [ 51 ] demonstrate social media’s potential utility for enhanced clinical learning and patient safety. In this study, two participants described how they use social media, specifically YouTube videos, to help with patient education at the bedside. Moreover, the participants indicated that they took a cautious approach to using social media in their formal and informal learning out of concern for professionalism implications. Several students indicated that they had been warned about the repercussions of unprofessional online behaviour and had adjusted their behaviour accordingly. This finding is similar to that of a previous conducted narrative review by O’Connor et al. [ 34 ] that found that students were likely to change what content they shared using social media after learning about issues of professionalism.

Importantly, the participants in this study appeared to use social media as a third space. Aaen and Dalsgaard [ 52 ] describe the ‘third space’ as being one that emerges in boundaries or overlaps across spheres; they explain that third spaces emerge from a need for discourses that are unavailable or cannot be filled in existing settings. Participants described creating their own Facebook groups for their classes, cohorts, study groups, clinical groups, and programs. The students explained that faculty members were not present in their Facebook groups, although they did sometimes encourage students to join the groups to stay up to date on information. The participants shared that they used the groups to fill gaps in their education. Others described using the Facebook groups to create a sense of community they felt was missing in their distance learning. In fact, this study found that nursing students use social media in their education in several ways that are often hidden or ‘behind the scenes’. Aaen and Dalsgaard [ 52 ] found that Facebook formed a ‘third space’ that combined elements of academic, personal, and social communication that does not typically take place within conventional university structures or spaces. The findings of this study are similar in the sense that the nursing student participants used social media as a mechanism to collaborate, communicate, teach, and learn when traditional university avenues were unavailable to them.

This study has implications for learning theory in connected teaching and learning. Learning theories – and thus, approaches to teaching – have moved from behaviourist to constructivist in the age of technology [ 53 ]. Indeed, social learning theories like connectivism [ 54 ], Communities of Practice [ 55 ], and social constructivism [ 36 ] can reflect the realities of connected teaching and learning because they focus on collective learning and knowing in both physical and digital spaces. In the present study, social constructivism, specifically Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development, is evident in the participants’ use of social media for formal and informal learning purposes. Vygotsky [ 56 ] defines the Zone of Proximal Development as “the distance between the actual development level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with capable peers” (p. 86). The participants in this study described using online social media groups to share information about course requirements, assignment information, and exam tips. Social media also appeared to be a method for students to consolidate, share, and engage in their learning as part of a larger social process. Several participants described experiences of scaffolding learning for their peers either within their own cohort or in cohorts behind them using social media groups. Scaffolding is a key component of Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development and has applications for online course design; technical scaffolding allows learners to experience just-in-time instruction and be provided with resources to solve problems and generate new learning and understanding collaboratively online [ 57 ]. Thus, the online learning environment should provide learners with the resources, tools, and supports they need to build their own knowledge; scaffolding fades as learners develop their own knowledge and expertise [ 53 ].

Implications for nursing education policy and practice

This study demonstrates that nursing students are using social media in their educational practices both formally and informally. This use of social media has implications for teaching and learning in nursing education. Faculty members must consider the purposes for which nursing students are using social media, especially informally. One finding of this study suggested that nursing students turned to social media to fill perceived gaps – both academic and social – in their learning experience. If faculty members and schools of nursing are aware that social media is being used by nursing students for formal and informal teaching and learning purposes, it can be leveraged to achieve specific competencies and learning objectives. Based on this study, we have highlighted recommendations for nursing education policy and practice.

At the policy level, professional and appropriate social media communication could be included as an educational competency in nursing education programs, if not already stated in guiding curriculum frameworks. The purpose of this recommendation is not to discourage social media use but rather to develop competent online communicators who are equipped to use social media for teaching, learning, advocacy, and knowledge translation purposes. At the institution level, increased training for both faculty members and students on digital literacies, identifying credible online sources, and managing misinformation could help ensure faculty and students feel equipped to use digital tools like social media effectively in their teaching and learning. Finally, at the course level, some participants valued using social media to extend their learning while others were more reluctant to use it; thus, approaching the use of social media with flexibility and allowing for choice is essential. Providing optional opportunities to extend learning may help encourage participation on social media and help students discover how social media platforms can be used as learning tools informally within the nursing profession.

Limitations and future directions

This exploratory qualitative case study included individual semi-structured interviews with nursing students from one Canadian School of Nursing. Despite incentivizing interview participation, we were only able to recruit 9 of the 24 possible participants. It is also probable that those who participated were more interested in social media than those who did not participate. The interviews consisted of self-reported data from the perspectives of the participants. Although participants spoke about how their professors used social media in their courses, the professors’ perspectives were not included in this study, leaving a potential imbalance and area for future research. Moreover, our small qualitative sample did not allow for a stratified analysis based on the program delivery method. This type of analysis would be interesting to conduct with a larger, quantitative dataset. Lastly, while the interview guide included questions about the nursing student participants’ experiences using social media, it did not include questions about their cultural backgrounds. In future, it would be interesting to explore how students’ culture backgrounds influence how and why they use of social media.

Conclusions

The nursing students in this study described and demonstrated using social media to support their formal and informal learning. The participants also used social media as a third space, one that is separate from the traditional confines of the university. Within this space, participants merged their personal and academic discussions to collaborate, share resources, mentor one another, and connect with nursing experts and professional institutions. This use of social media has implications for teaching and learning in nursing education, especially regarding learning theory, scaffolding, and online course design.

Availability of data and materials

Due to the qualitative case study nature of this research, the data generated and analyzed during the current study are not publicly available to maintain the anonymity of the study participants. Data are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Boyd dm, Ellison NB. Social network sites: definition, history, and scholarship. J Comput Mediat Commun. 2007;13(1):210–30.

Article   Google Scholar  

Thomas P, Kern D, Hughes M, Chen B. Curriculum development for medical education: a six-step approach. 3rd ed. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press; 2016.

Google Scholar  

Edmunds A, Nickel J, Badley K. Curriculum: designing meaningful learning experiences. In: Educational foundations in Canada. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press; 2015. p. 69–117.

Gofton W, Regehr G. What we don’t know we are teaching: unveiling the hidden curriculum. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2006;449:20–7.

Article   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Duke V, Anstey A, Carter S, Gosse N, Hutchens K, Marsh J. Social media in nurse education: utilization and E-professionalism. Nurse Educ Today. 2017;57:8–13.

Ventola C. Social media and healthcare professionals: benefits, risks, and best practices. Pharmacy and Therapeutics. 2014;39(7):491–9.

PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Lu D, Ruan B, Lee M, Yilmaz Y, Chan TM. Good practices in harnessing social media for scholarly discourse, knowledge translation, and education. Perspect Med Educ. 2021;10(1):23–32.

Gottlieb M, Dyer S. Information and Disinformation: Social Media in the COVID-19 Crisis. Acad Emerg Med. 2020;27(7):640–1.

Article   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Merchant R, Lurie N. Social media and emergency preparedness in response to novel Coronavirus. JAMA. 2020;323(20):2011–2.

Article   CAS   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Bell F. Connectivism: Its place in theory-informed research and innovation in technology enabled learning. Int Rev Res Open Dist Learn. 2011;12(3):98–118.

Cohn RJ, Plack MM. A cloud with a silver lining: helping students learn about professionalism. Teach Learn Med. 2017;29(3):304–12.

Craig J, Wong R. Student perceptions of the use and value of wiki technology for the creation and dissemination of an orthopedic physical therapy assignment. Journal of Physical Therapy Education. 2013;27(1):70–6.

Erardi L, Hartmann K. Blogs, wikis, and podcasts: Broadening our connections for communication, collaboration, and continuing education. OT Pract. 2008;13(9):CE1–8.

Guckian J, Utukuri M, Asif A, Burton O, OAdeyoju J, Oumeziane A, et al. Social media in undergraduate medical education: a systematic review. Med Educ. 2021;55(11):1227–41.

Forgie SE, Duff JP, Ross S. Twelve tips for using twitter as a learning tool in medical education. Med Teach. 2013;35(1):8–14.

Kind T, Patel P, Lie D, Chretien K. Twelve tips for using social media as a medical educator. Med Teach. 2014;36(4):284–90.

Minter D, Geha R, Manesh R, et al. The future comes early for medical educators. J Gen Intern Med. 2021;36:1400–3.

Pereira I, Cunningham A, Moreau K, Sherbino J, Jalali A. Thou shalt not tweet unprofessionally: an appreciative inquiry into the professional use of social media. Postgrad Med J. 2015;91(1080):561–4.

Comp G, Dyer S, Gottlieb M. Is TikTok the next social media frontier for medicine? AEM Educ Train. 2021;5(3):1–4.

Sherbino J. The social media summit in health professions education. Postgrad Med J. 2015;91(1080):542–3.

Arbour M, Kaspar RW, Teall AM. strategies to promote cultural competence in distance education. J Transcult Nurs. 2015;26(4):436–40.

Chu SKW, Chan CKK, Tiwari AFY. Using blogs to support learning during internship. Comput Educ. 2012;58(3):989–1000.

Garrity M, Jones K, VanderZwan K, de la Rocha A, Epstein I. Integrative review of blogging: implications for nursing education. J Nurs Educ. 2014;53(7):395–401.

Reed SJ, Edmunds D. Use of a blog in an undergraduate nursing leadership course. Nurse Educ Pract. 2015;15(6):537–42.

Thomas CM, Bertram E, Allen R. Preparing for transition to professional practice: creating a simulated blog and reflective journaling activity. Clin Simul Nurs. 2012;8(3):e87–95.

Chu LF, Erlendson MJ, Sun JS, Clemenson AM, Martin P, Eng RL. Information technology and its role in anaesthesia training and continuing medical education. Best Pract Res Clin Anaesthesiol. 2012;26(1):33–53.

Reed KS. Bags and blogs: creating an ostomy experience for nursing students. Rehabil Nurs. 2012;37(2):62–5.

Gunberg Ross J. Integration of social media into nursing education. In: Pennsylvania Nurse. 2015. p. 4–10.

Ross JG, Beckmann B, Goumas C. baccalaureate nursing students’ perceptions of the use of a facebook case study as a teaching strategy. Nurs Educ Perspect. 2019;40(3):174–5.

Morales K. Active learning strategies to enhance nursing students’ knowledge of pharmacology. Nurs Educ Perspect. 2017;38(2):100–2.

Tower M, Latimer S, Hewitt J. Social networking as a learning tool: nursing students’ perception of efficacy. Nurse Educ Today. 2014;34(6):1012–7.

May O, Wedgeworth M, Bigham A. Technology in nursing education: youtube as a teaching strategy. J Pediatr Nurs. 2013;28(4):408–10.

Basevi R, Reid D. Ethical guidelines and the use of social media and text messaging in healthcare: A review of the literature. N Z J Physiother. 2014:68–80.

O’Connor S, Zhang M, Honey M, Lee JJ. Digital professionalism on social media: a narrative review of the medical, nursing, and allied health education literature. Int J Med Inf. 2021;153: 104514.

O’Connor S, Jolliffe S, Stanmore E, Renwick L, Booth R. Social media in nursing and midwifery education: a mixed study systematic review. J Adv Nurs. 2018;74(10):2273–89.

Creswell J. Research design: quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Ltd.; 2003.

Dewey J. Democracy and education: An introduction to the philosophy of education. USA: Feather Trail Press; 1916.

Reich K. Constructivism: diversity of approaches and connections with pragmatism. In: Hickman L, Neubert S, Reich K, editors. John Dewey: between pragmatism and constructivism. New York, NY: Fordham University Press; 2009. p. 39–66.

Chapter   Google Scholar  

Yin R. Case study research: Design and methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE; 2014.

Universities Canada. 2019 full-time and part-time fall enrolment at Canadian universities. 2019. Available from:. https://www.univcan.ca/universities/facts-and-stats/enrolment-by-university/ .

Giroux CM, Moreau KA. A Qualitative Exploration of the Teaching- and Learning-Related Content Nursing Students Share to Social Media. Can J Nurs Res. 2021:8445621211053113.

Varpio L, Ajjawi R, Monrouxe LV, O’Brien BC, Rees CE. Shedding the cobra effect: problematising thematic emergence, triangulation, saturation and member checking. Med Educ. 2017;51(1):40–50.

Miles M, Huberman A, Saldana J. Qualitative data analysis: a methods sourcebook. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE; 2014.

Creswell J, Plano Clark V. Designing and conducting mixes methods research. 3rd ed. Washington, DC: SAGE; 2018.

Guba E. Criteria for assessing the trustworthiness of naturalistic inquiries. Education and Communicational Technology Journal. 1981;29(2):75–91.

Lincoln Y, Guba E. Naturalistic inquiry. Newbury Park, CA: SAGE; 1985.

Book   Google Scholar  

Creswell J, Plano Clark V. Designing and conducting mixed methods research. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE; 2011.

D’Souza K, Henningham L, Zou R, Huang J, O’Sullivan E, Last J, et al. Attitudes of health professional educators toward the use of social media as a teaching tool: global cross-sectional study. J Med Internet Res. 2017;3(2).

Giordano C, Giordano C. Health professions students’ use of social media. J Allied Health. 2011;40(2):78–81.

PubMed   Google Scholar  

Junco R, Elavsky C, Heiberger G. Putting twitter to the test: assessing outcomes for student collaboration, engagement and success. Br J Edu Technol. 2013;44(2):273–87.

Hay B, Carr P, Dawe L, Clark-Burg K. “iM ready to learn”: undergraduate nursing students knowledge, preferences, and practice of mobile technology and social media. Comput Inform Nurs. 2017;35(1):8–17.

Aaen J, Dalsgaard C. Student facebook groups as a third space: between social life and schoolwork. Learn Media Technol. 2016;41(1):160–86.

Flynn L, Jalali A, Moreau KA. Learning theory and its application to the use of social media in medical education. Postgrad Med J. 2015;91(1080):556–60.

Siemens G. Connectivism: learning theory or pastime for the self-amused? elearnspace: everything elearning. 2006.

Wenger E. Communities of practice: learning, meaning, and identity. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press; 1998.

Vygotsky L. Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; 1978.

Lau K. Computer-based teaching module design: principles derived from learning theories. Med Educ. 2014;48(3):247–54.

Download references

Acknowledgements

Not Applicable.

No funding was obtained for this study.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa, 145 Jean-Jacques Lussier Pvt, OttawaOttawa, ON, K1N 9A7, Canada

Catherine M. Giroux

Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada

Katherine A. Moreau

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Contributions

C. G. and K. M. were equally responsible for conceptualizing the study, conducting data collection and analysis, writing the main manuscript text and reviewing the manuscript. All the authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Catherine M. Giroux .

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate.

This study received formal ethical approval from the University of Ottawa Social Sciences and Humanities Research Ethics Board (S-08–18-921) and approval from the study site (101916) in August 2019. We reviewed the informed consent form with each participant prior to commencing the interview and addressed any questions that they had. All participants verbally consented to participate in an interview and participants’ consent was recorded using Zoom video conference software, in accordance with our REB approval from the University of Ottawa Social Sciences and Humanities REB (S-08–18-921). We followed Tri-Council ethics guidelines. Our reporting aligns with the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ) checklist.

Consent for publication

Competing interests.

The authors have no competing interests to declare.

Additional information

Publisher’s note.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Additional file 1: appendix..

 Semi-Structured Interview Guide.

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ ) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

Giroux, C.M., Moreau, K.A. Nursing students’ use of social media in their learning: a case study of a Canadian School of Nursing. BMC Nurs 21 , 195 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-022-00977-0

Download citation

Received : 29 November 2021

Accepted : 06 July 2022

Published : 22 July 2022

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-022-00977-0

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Nursing students
• Social media
• Social constructivism
• Third space

BMC Nursing

ISSN: 1472-6955

• General enquiries: [email protected]

What is omnichannel marketing?

Picture this: you’re browsing online for some new work clothes, and you add something to your virtual cart but ultimately decide not to buy it. Then later, you see an ad on social media for the abandoned garment. Some scratch their heads at this, but it’s actually an example of omnichannel marketing.

The prefix “omni” means “all,” and “channel” is a reference to the many ways customers might interact with a company—in physical stores, by surfing the web, on social media, and in emails, apps, SMS, and other digital spaces. And this omnichannel approach can be a powerful way to meet your customers where they are, providing them good service in line with their preferences and needs. (Note that, in this article, we use the terms “customers,” “consumers,” and “shoppers” interchangeably in referring to omnichannel marketing in both B2B and B2C contexts.)

More and more, customers move across all channels—in person, online, and beyond—to get what they want. But not every customer is looking for the same thing, and omnichannel marketing acknowledges that. Some people want more services for certain transactions; others prefer low-touch, 24/7 interactions. Effective omnichannel marketing , then, happens when companies provide a set of seamlessly integrated channels, catering to customer preferences, and steer them to the most efficient solutions.

So why is omnichannel marketing important? Research on the omnichannel experience  shows more than half of B2C customers engage with three to five channels each time they make a purchase or resolve a request. And the average customer looking to make a single reservation for accommodations (like a hotel room) online switched nearly six times between websites and mobile channels. If these customers encounter inconsistent information or can’t get what they need, they may lose interest in a brand’s products or services.

And this can translate into business outcomes. Omnichannel customers shop 1.7 times more than shoppers who use a single channel. They also spend more.

Sometimes the term omnichannel is used in the context of customer service or customer experience . And it’s also used as a descriptor of other elements that go into supporting an organization’s omnichannel efforts—for instance, omnichannel supply chains , which is shorthand for an approach in which companies ensure that their supply chains are optimally set up to support omnichannel marketing efforts.

What are examples of omnichannel?

Omnichannel approaches are commonly used in retail  (both B2B  and B2C ), but you’ll also find it in healthcare and other spaces. Medtech companies , for instance, use a variety of channels including digital marketing, inside sales, portal and e-commerce, and hybrid sales-rep interactions to engage with healthcare professionals.

Several omnichannel examples  can illustrate various approaches:

• Best Buy typically focuses on commerce (both in store and online), but boosted its in-store experience by creating offerings for customers to explore smart home-technology solutions, pairing them with free in-home advisory services. And its mobile app lets customers “scan to shop” from catalogs and curbside, or buy online and pick up merchandise in the store itself, smoothing the end-to-end journey for customers with the 24/7 tech support from its Geek Squad. Best Buy’s Totaltech support offer was compelling to customers—it launched with 200,000 memberships in 2018, which climbed to two million within a year.
• Beauty retailer Sephora emphasizes omnichannel personalization, relying on rich in-app messaging, personalized push notifications, and easy ways for customers to book in-person consultations. Its in-store technology is a powerful complement that allows employees to access customer favorites and suggest products they might try next. Its loyalty program also plays an important role. The efforts are already driving value for Sephora: data showed that customers visiting the retail website within 24 hours of visiting a store were three times more likely to make a purchase, and orders were 13 percent higher than for other customers.
• Nike takes an ecosystems view of omnichannel, extending the brand experience and offering customers an ever-growing platform of content, offers, and community interactions. Its SNKRS and Run Club apps, for example, facilitate in-person meetups, running groups, and events. It also has an app for delivering individual workouts and fitness programs, creating experiences that go far beyond shoe and apparel lines to meet customers in their day-to-day routines.

Learn more about our Retail  and Growth, Marketing & Sales  practices.

How has omnichannel been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic?

Omnichannel rose during the COVID-19 pandemic as more consumers turned to e-commerce. Due to the increased demand for contactless shopping during the height of the pandemic, US grocery stores saw 20 to 30 percent of their business shift to online . Before the pandemic, e-commerce accounted for just 3 to 4 percent of total sales for grocers.

The shifts made during the pandemic are likely to persist . In the pandemic, people gravitated to curbside pickup, “buy online, pay in store” models, and self-checkout at higher rates than in the past. And recent research indicates these behaviors are “sticky”—indeed, about 70 percent of people who first tried self-checkout in the pandemic say they’ll use it again.

Introducing McKinsey Explainers : Direct answers to complex questions

What do customers want out of the omnichannel experience.

Customers want a compelling and personalized omnichannel user experience with robust digital capabilities, both online and offline. About 60 to 70 percent of consumers research and shop both in stores and online . More concretely, over one-third of Americans  made omnichannel features—think buying online and picking up in store or curbside—part of their regular shopping routines since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged. Nearly two-thirds of those individuals plan to continue doing so. And younger buyers, like Gen Zers, embrace omnichannel enthusiastically; these customers don’t think in terms of traditional channel boundaries, and they expect brands and retailers to provide a seamless experience, no matter where they are.

In a sense, all customers are omnichannel customers now, McKinsey partner Tiffany Burns  explains in an episode of the McKinsey on Consumer and Retail podcast :

“Many retailers still think, ‘There are omnichannel interactions and store interactions, and I’m optimizing those two things separately. I have two different teams working on and thinking about those experiences.’ But as a consumer, when I go on the retailer’s website or app, I expect to see availability, a connection to what’s in the store, and a way to order things that I can pick up in store. I also expect to be able to stand in the aisle in the store and research a product. Today, consumers are figuring out workarounds to do all those things: they’re switching over from the app to Google, looking up the product, and searching for reviews.”

Organizations that make shopping a seamless omnichannel experience , or provide an app that helps customers find their way or see what’s in stock in the store, are already creating experiences that are a win for omnichannel customers .

Is omnichannel the same thing as phygital? And what is phygital, anyway?

Omnichannel is a business strategy, while “phygital” (a portmanteau that combines the word “physical” and “digital”) refers to the integration of the physical and digital worlds.

The term suggests a completely connected world that is both physical and digital at the same time . While fewer consumers are visiting brick-and-mortar stores and choosing to use e-commerce instead, more than 80 percent of retail sales still occur in a physical location . By 2030, the shopping experience will be highly personalized , and some activities may even take place in the metaverse . According to a recent survey, 80 percent of US adults  want personalization from retailers with multiple, personalized touchpoints , which can include a mobile app, digital displays, interactive screens, tech-enabled associates, and point of sale.

What about omnichannel vs multichannel?

When it comes to omnichannel vs multichannel, the key difference is the focus at the center of all efforts. Omnichannel is a customer-centric approach in which all channels are integrated so the customer has a unified and consistent experience whether they are at a physical store, using an app, or on a website. Multichannel, in contrast, tends to revolve around products instead of customers. It aims to inform as many people as possible about the product or brand, and the channels are not linked, so the customer experience is often different for each channel.

An interview with an insurance executive, Eric Gewirtzman of BOLT , makes that distinction relatable: “Insurance customers are already moving between various channels,” Gewirtzman says. “But there’s a big difference between being multichannel and being omnichannel. Just because carriers have, say, an exclusive agent channel, an independent agent channel, and a website, doesn’t mean they’re omnichannel. Too often, consumers will get a different experience and different results depending on which channel they use. This has to change. If there is no awareness between the channels, sales are lost.”

Learn more about our Financial Services practice.

What is omnichannel personalization?

Omnichannel personalization refers to the way organizations might tailor the customer experience for individuals across physical and digital channels. This includes multiple touchpoints that cater to the customer’s preferences pre-visit, during the visit, and post-visit. Customers receive products, offers, and communications that are unique to them as individuals.

Efforts to personalize the omnichannel market can have a big payoff. Indeed, getting omnichannel personalization right  could help companies increase revenue by 5 to 15 percent across the full customer base.

While companies recognize the power of omnichannel personalization, they may face roadblocks in implementing these efforts for a variety of reasons:

• Omnichannel personalization requires a lot of investment in technology  (both software and hardware). Personalizing physical spaces often starts from scratch because it requires enabling digital touchpoints such as screens, kiosks, or tablets for store associates, which may not exist.
• It is difficult to deliver a seamless customer experience and train employees. The front line needs training to understand and reinforce the customer journey.
• Traditionally, companies operate their digital and physical channels independently. Omnichannel personalization requires companies to rethink their organizational structure across both the digital and physical parts of the business .

These barriers, however, can be overcome. Five steps can help companies achieve omnichannel personalization :

• Define the omnichannel personalization strategy and learning agenda. It’s crucial to develop a clear view on key moments of influence in the customer journey , and then identify what outcomes are desired at each step of that journey. Finally, an organization needs to prioritize use cases to test, looking at their ability to deliver business benefits and value to customers.
• Address five digital touchpoints to activate personalized experiences in physical environments. Companies need to connect digital and physical footprints to drive omnichannel personalization, especially at touchpoints where these worlds converge. Five are particularly important: mobile apps, digital displays, interactive screens, tech-enabled associates, and point of sale.
• Use an omnichannel “ decisioning engine ” to deliver experiences and measure performance. This can help organizations identify, quickly and accurately, the next best action to take with each customer.
• Implement agile operating practices. Personalized marketing goes beyond mere technology; it requires new ways of working, and agile marketing teams  can help in this regard.
• Activate omnichannel personalization in the field. To bring all these elements together, a company’s sales force must be fully aligned and well trained. In-person teams could make your customer’s day, so frontline personnel need to support personalization efforts, understand their value, and use digital tools to deliver the complete experience.

What is omnichannel strategy?

An omnichannel strategy for marketing is a way of ensuring that your efforts drive tangible business value. Rather than rushing blindly into the space, or haphazardly approaching it, organizations should step back and think about underlying business value drivers. Excelling in omnichannel depends on a laser focus on value creation, looking at both strategic and customer priorities to craft the omnichannel strategy that will be most effective for their unique circumstances.

The most successful companies set their omnichannel strategy by leading with their strategic ambition and aspirations for customer experience. There are three primary omnichannel strategies :

• Commerce. This prioritizes cross-channel shopping experience both in store and online.
• Personalization. This strategy focuses on tailored, targeted, and relevant cross-channel engagement at scale.
• Ecosystem. Here, the strategy aims to provide rich cross-channel platforms integrated with consumer needs and lifestyles.

Learn more about our Growth, Marketing & Sales  practice.

What’s involved in omnichannel operations?

Organizations can build leading omnichannel operations , spanning a variety of areas. By strengthening the foundation of your omnichannel operations and focusing on strategy, structure, and processes, you could gain a performance edge.

Topics to explore include mastering omnichannel supply chains , creating a customer-centric supply chain strategy , designing the omnichannel distribution network of the future , reimagining the role of physical stores , and more.

What should I know about B2B omnichannel?

Omnichannel has become a permanent part of B2B sales , with e-commerce, face-to-face, and remote videoconference sales all a necessary part of buyers’ experience. According to a 2021 McKinsey survey of US-based B2B decision makers, 94 percent of respondents view today’s B2B omnichannel reality  as being as effective or more effective than before COVID-19. The findings also revealed that B2B customers regularly use ten or more channels to interact with suppliers, up from five in 2016.

B2B omnichannel efforts can be a path to grow an organization’s market share, but loyalty is up for grabs, with customers more willing than ever to switch suppliers for a better omnichannel experience. B2B decision makers use more channels than ever before to interact with suppliers, and being attuned to those channels will be important.

There are five must-dos for B2B companies seeking to retain customer loyalty and succeed in omnichannel:

• offer a performance guarantee (nearly 80 percent of B2B customers say it’s crucial)
• show product availability online
• enable purchases over any channel
• provide customer service in real time
• ensure the customer experience is consistent as buyers toggle between channels

While B2C omnichannel efforts might be the first to spring to mind, omnichannel experience is crucial to giving all customers a better and more seamless journey.

For more in-depth exploration of these topics, see McKinsey’s insights on marketing and sales —and check out omnichannel-related job opportunities if you’re interested in working at McKinsey.

Articles referenced include:

• “ The new B2B growth equation ,” February 23, 2022, Arun Arora , Liz Harrison , Max Magni, Candace Lun Plotkin , and Jennifer Stanley
• “ Omnichannel: The path to value ,” April 30, 2021, Holly Briedis, Brian Gregg , Kevin Heidenreich, and Wei Wei Liu
• “ Omnichannel shopping in 2030 ,” April 9, 2021, Praveen Adhi , Eric Hazan , Sajal Kohli , and Kelsey Robinson
• “ Redefine the omnichannel approach: Focus on what truly matters ,” June 22, 2020, Jorge Amar , Raelyn Jacobson , Becca Kleinstein, and Allison Shi
• “ The end of shopping’s boundaries: Omnichannel personalization ,” February 10, 2020, Gal Gitter, Meg Raymond, Kelsey Robinson , and Jamie Wilkie

Want to know more about omnichannel marketing?

Related articles.

Omnichannel: The path to value

The new B2B growth equation

What is the metaverse?

The Association Between Antidepressant Use and Drug-Induced Liver Injury: A Nationwide, Population-Based Case–Control Study in Taiwan

• Original Research Article
• Open access
• Published: 05 June 2024

Cite this article

You have full access to this open access article

• Ching-Ya Huang 1 , 2 ,
• Ying-Shu You   ORCID: orcid.org/0009-0001-7802-6097 3 , 4 ,
• Jian-Ming Lai 3 ,
• Cheng-Li Lin 5 ,
• Hsing-Yu Hsu   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4424-9476 3 &
• Yow-Wen Hsieh   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-0523-3482 2 , 3  

116 Accesses

Explore all metrics

Background and Objective

The complex risk factors of liver injury have prevented the establishment of causal relationships. This study aimed to explore the effects of antidepressant class, cumulative days of medication exposure, presence of comorbidities, and the use of confounding drugs on the risk of antidepressant-induced liver injury.

The population-based case–control study sample included individuals registered on the Taiwan National Health Insurance Database between 2000 and 2018. Hospitalized patients with suspected drug-induced liver injury were considered as cases, while control subjects were matched 1:1 by age, gender, and index date (the first observed diagnosis of liver injury). Multivariable regression models were performed to evaluate the association between antidepressants and liver injury.

The findings showed that antidepressant users exhibited a higher risk of liver injury (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.16, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.12–1.20), particularly those prescribed non-selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (NSRIs; aOR 1.05; 95% CI 1.01–1.10), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs; aOR 1.22; 95% CI 1.16–1.29), serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs; aOR 1.18; 95% CI 1.13–1.24), and others (aOR 1.27; 95% CI 1.14–1.42). Moreover, cases exhibited a more significant proportion of antidepressant usage and longer durations of treatment compared with controls. The risk of liver injury was higher in the first 30 days of use across all classes of antidepressants (aOR 1.24; 95% CI 1.18–1.29).

SSRIs or SNRIs are commonly used to treat depression and other psychological disorders, and consideration of their potential effects on the liver is essential.

Similar content being viewed by others

Antidepressant-Induced Acute Liver Injury: A Case–Control Study in an Italian Inpatient Population

Antidepressants and Hepatotoxicity: A Cohort Study among 5 Million Individuals Registered in the French National Health Insurance Database

Risk of Acute Liver Injury in Agomelatine and Other Antidepressant Users in Four European Countries: A Cohort and Nested Case–Control Study Using Automated Health Data Sources

Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.

1 Introduction

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is a relatively rare occurrence, with an incidence rate ranging from 1 per 10,000 to 100,000 individuals [ 1 ]. A recent study in France reported that DILI had an incidence rate of approximately 14 per 100,000 person-years, of whom 12% required hospitalization and 6% died [ 2 ]. Despite this, there is limited evidence extrapolating the overall incidence of DILI to Taiwan. Prospective studies conducted in Taiwan reported an incidence of 768 cases per 100,000 person-years for statin-induced DILI [ 3 ], as well as an incidence of 31.6 cases per 10,000 persons for antifungal agent-induced DILI, exemplified by fluconazole [ 4 ]. Given the high prevalence of hepatitis in Taiwan and the clinical presentation similarities with DILI, accurate diagnosis is often complicated, suggesting that reported incidence rates might underestimate the true prevalence.

The risk factors for DILI include age, gender, presence of comorbidities, drug interactions, and drug dosage [ 5 ]. Evidence suggests that age can increase sensitivity to and limit the metabolism of hepatotoxic drugs in humans [ 6 ], with drug efficacy and metabolism rates significantly differing in children and elderly individuals compared with adults [ 7 ]. One study found that females exhibited a higher risk of adverse drug reactions, potentially due to differences in metabolism rates and medication dosage between genders [ 6 ], although this was contradicted by another study that reported observing the opposite results [ 8 ]. Drug interactions and the presence of comorbidities can also increase the risk of DILI, with Bell and Chalasani demonstrating that patients diagnosed with hepatitis types B and C and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) exhibited an increased risk of being diagnosed with DILI [ 9 ]. Concurrent use of other hepatotoxic drugs was also identified as a risk factor for DILI [ 10 ].

In Japan, 60% of DILI occurs within 30 days of commencing medication usage, while 80% occurs within 90 days of commencing usage [ 11 ]. Several other studies have also shown that acute DILI may develop within 1–3 months of commencing medication usage [ 12 , 13 , 14 ]. Some studies have shown that approximately 1.28–4 patients per 100,000 patient-years require hospitalization for antidepressant-induced liver injury (AILI). In particular, the incidence rates of AILI associated with nefazodone and tricyclic/tetracyclic antidepressant usage are approximately 28.96 and 4 patients per 100,000 patient-years, respectively [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ]. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) have also been shown to lead to asymptomatic mildly abnormal liver function in approximately 0.5–1% of patients, while monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) usage resulted in AILI in approximately 3% of patients [ 17 ]. However, diagnosis of AILI is challenging as it is primarily based on exclusion, suggesting that the incidence rates may be underestimated [ 18 ].

DILI primarily has two pathophysiological types, as follows: (1) idiosyncratic: dose-independent, unpredictable, occurs as a consequence of either immune-mediated liver damage (immuno-allergic idiosyncratic DILI) or direct cellular injury (metabolic idiosyncratic DILI); and (2) intrinsic: dose-dependent, predictable, occurs as a consequence of drug accumulation [ 17 ]. Most pathophysiological types of AILI are either immune-allergic or metabolic idiosyncratic DILI, with the majority being of the hepatocellular type and fewer being the cholestatic or mixed types. Moreover, acute hepatocellular injury and jaundice have a mortality rate of approximately 10% [ 17 ]. Although there are reports of hepatotoxicity linked to adverse reactions from antidepressants, extensive studies conducted in Taiwan exclusively centered around the occurrence of liver cancer, reporting a low incidence and mortality rate [ 19 , 20 ]. This contrasts with other research exploring the mechanisms of liver injury, revealing a notable research gap concerning the impact of diverse antidepressant drug treatments and their dose–response relationships on the risk of hepatotoxicity.

Therefore, this nationwide population-based study aims to assess the risk of AILI associated with different pharmacological classifications and the duration of antidepressant use. The investigation relies on data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Database from 2000 to 2018.

2.1 Data Sources

This population-based, case–control study used the Taiwan National Health Insurance (NHI) database, which was established in 1995 and covers more than 99.6% of the Taiwanese population. The National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) contains claims data (e.g., registry of beneficiaries, clinical and hospital care records, drug prescriptions, and other medical service records) from the NHI database and is reviewed annually. Additionally, data from the Longitudinal Generation Tracking Database (LGTD 2005), which contains approximately two million individuals randomly selected from the NHIRD, was also used. The clinics and hospitals recorded diagnoses using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth and Tenth Revision, and Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM). Patient confidentiality was protected through data pseudonymization (wherein all original identification numbers were replaced with encoded serial numbers to enable linkage to claims data) implemented by the Taiwanese government prior to the release of data for research.

2.2 Study Population

The study population included individuals aged 20 years or over who did not have any history of relevant code from ICD-9-CM [ 21 ] of malignant neoplasms (140–239); viral hepatitis A, B, or C infections, other viral hepatitis infections (070.0–070.9), or carriers of the hepatitis virus (V026.1–V026.9); infectious mononucleosis and cytomegalovirus and coxsackie virus infections (573.1–573.2); cholelithiasis (574.0–574.9); chronic liver disease; cirrhosis; alcoholic liver disease; liver abscess; portal pyemia; hepatic coma; portal hypertension; hepatorenal syndrome; chronic passive congestion of the liver (571.0–573.0); and liver disorders during pregnancy (646.7) between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2018.

Cases were patients hospitalized with the diagnosis code of suspected DILI during the study period based on the ICD-9-CM, ICD-10-CM, and the previous study, including disorders of bilirubin excretion, acute and subacute necrosis of liver, liver cirrhosis, chronic liver disease (nonalcoholic), hepatic coma, hepatitis (non-viral), other disorders of the liver, and other specified disorders of the biliary tract [ 3 , 4 , 21 ]. A control individual free from liver injury was randomly selected for each case, matching (1:1) on age, gender, and the index date (the first observed diagnosis of liver injury in the case).

2.3 Exposure to Antidepressants

The antidepressants included in this study were monoamine oxidase A inhibitors (MAO-AIs), non-selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (NSRIs), SSRIs, and SNRIs. Medications not included in the aforementioned classes were classified as other antidepressants (i.e., trazodone hydrochloride, oxitriptan, mirtazapine, and agomelatine, etc.). The cumulative exposure to antidepressants was defined as the total number of days before the index date that the patient was prescribed antidepressants. Patients were categorized into groups (i.e., 1–30 days, 31–90 days, and 91+ days) based on their cumulative exposure to antidepressants to allow examination of the association with the risk of liver injury. Non-users were those who had never used antidepressants before the index date.

2.4 Covariates

Factors such as the use of other medications and a history of comorbidities have been shown to be related to liver injury and, therefore, were considered confounders in the current analysis (Table 1 ). Medications causing liver damage were prescribed for >90 days a year before the index date, including anti-tuberculosis agents, statins (or fibrates), antibiotics, antifungals, anti-epileptics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and other potential hepatotoxic agents (i.e., acetaminophen, amiodarone, and methotrexate) [ 22 ]. Comorbidities were defined as the presence of chronic renal failure, hyperthyroidism, diabetes mellitus, malnutrition, hyperlipidemia, heart failure, hypertension, ischemic heart disease, arrhythmia, chronic kidney disease, and renal failure.

2.5 Statistical Analyses

Descriptive statistics were compared between the cases and controls using the Student’s t -test or Mann–Whitney U test for continuous variables and the Chi-square test for categorical variables, respectively. Crude and multivariate logistic regressions were used to compare the risk of liver injury between antidepressant users and non-users, and the findings were reported as odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The multivariate models adjusted for age, gender, history of comorbidities, and use of liver damage-related drugs prior to the index date of 1 year. All data analyses were carried out using SAS 9.4 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC, USA), and a two-tailed p value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant.

The study sample included 59,989 cases hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of liver injury and 59,989 controls matched by age, gender, and index date. Approximately half of the cases exhibited hepatitis (49%), and were statistically significantly more likely than controls to have a higher prevalence of antidepressant usage (20.3% vs 13.9%), longer durations of antidepressant exposure (33 days vs 30 days), and use of other liver damage-related medications for >90 days (i.e., statins, antifungals, anti-tuberculosis agents, antibiotics, anti-epileptics, NSAIDs, acetaminophen, amiodarone, and methotrexate). Moreover, a greater proportion of cases were likely to have a history of comorbidities, including hypertension (33.2% vs 24.4%), diabetes mellitus (17.7% vs 10.1%), ischemic heart disease (17.0% vs 11.6%), arrhythmia (7.0% vs 4.6%), heart failure (4.8% vs 2.8%), hyperlipidemia (29.5% vs 15.6%), chronic kidney disease and renal failure (5.8% vs 2.7%), hyperthyroidism (2.6% vs 1.4%), and fasting or malnutrition (0.6% vs 0.2%) than controls (Table 1 ).

Table 2 presents the distribution and odds of antidepressant users among the study population. Compared with the controls, cases had a significantly higher proportion of patients using any classes of antidepressants, which was associated with an increased risk of liver injury across all durations of use (the range of crude ORs was 1.44–2.35). After adjusting for covariates, antidepressant users exhibited a significantly higher risk of liver injury (adjusted OR [aOR] 1.16, 95% CI 1.12–1.20). This risk was particularly elevated when individuals were prescribed NSRIs (aOR 1.05; 95% CI 1.01–1.10), SSRIs (aOR 1.22; 95% CI 1.16–1.29), SNRIs (aOR 1.18; 95% CI 1.13–1.24), or other types of antidepressants including trazodone hydrochloride, oxitriptan, mirtazapine, and agomelatine (aOR 1.27; 95% CI 1.14–1.42). However, all MAO-AIs users had no significant result compared with non-users.

Subgroup analyses presented in Table 2 , stratified based on days of drug usage, revealed that individuals using any class of antidepressants faced a higher risk of developing liver injury within the initial 1–30 days compared with non-users (aOR 1.24; 95% CI 1.03–1.54). Furthermore, these findings remained consistent across all classes, including MAO-AI (aOR 1.26; 95% CI 1.03–1.54), NSRI (aOR 1.14; 95% CI 1.08–1.20), SSRI (aOR 1.34; 95% CI 1.24–1.45), and SNRI (aOR 1.21; 95% CI 1.14–1.30) users. Notably, there was a discernible declining trend in risk with longer durations of usage, especially among patients using NSRIs for >90 days, who exhibited a significantly reduced risk when compared with individuals who had not utilized any form of NSRI (aOR 0.86; 95% CI 0.79–0.94).

4 Discussion

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first Asian population-based study to illustrate the association between antidepressant use and the risk of DILI in the general population. The current study first demonstrates the nationwide risk of AILI in Taiwan over 18 years. Systematically, the study collected data encompassing the risk of liver injury linked to all classes of antidepressants, analyzing the cumulative days of exposure. The findings of the current study showed an association between antidepressant usage and risk of liver injury, with a significantly larger proportion of patients with liver injury using antidepressants compared with those without liver injury. Additionally, the median duration of antidepressant use was significantly longer in patients with liver injury compared with those without liver injury. Noteworthy is the observation that nearly 50% of suspected AILI patients presented with non-viral hepatitis. Furthermore, a higher prevalence of AILI was observed in patients with comorbidities, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, renal disease, and others.

The risk of AILI in this study is lower than in the previous research, which may be due to differences in drug category distribution and other demographics [ 23 ]. Further analysis showed that certain pharmaceutical classes of antidepressants (e.g., SSRIs and other classes of antidepressants) were associated with an overall higher risk of liver injury compared with other classes, except for MAOIs. In addition, certain antidepressants may carry an increased risk of liver injury, particularly in the first 30 days of use, as suggested by research findings [ 23 ]. Patients using these medications should exercise caution, and healthcare providers should monitor for potential liver-related adverse effects during the initial month of treatment.

The prevalence of liver injury was also relatively high among those who had used anti-tuberculosis agents, statins (or fibrates), antibiotics, antifungals, anti-epileptics, NSAIDs, and other potential hepatotoxic agents (i.e., acetaminophen, amiodarone, and methotrexate) [ 22 ] for >90 days compared with those who had not, consistent with previous studies [ 12 ]. This could be attributed to the independent association of these drugs with the risk of liver injury. When combined with antidepressants, they may collectively contribute to an increased burden on the liver, potentially leading to damage.

The mechanism for AILI is not yet fully understood. Studies suggest that DILI may be related to allergic reactions, oxidative stress, lipid peroxidation, cytochrome-P450 enzyme ( CYP450 ) metabolites, or immune-mediated reactions [ 17 , 24 ]. SSRIs and SNRIs are metabolized in the liver, especially through the CYP450 enzyme pathway, which includes CYP2C19 , CYP2C9 , and CYP2D6 [ 25 ]. In elderly patients or CYP2C19 poor metabolizers, the oral clearance rate is diminished, leading to a higher likelihood of adverse reactions and hepatotoxicity due to dose accumulation [ 26 ]. In clinical management, the dosage or medication regimen may be altered when an elevation in the patient’s liver indices is detected. This could explain the slight reduction in the observed risk of liver injury after a treatment duration exceeding 30 days.

MAO-AIs inhibit monoamine oxidase in the liver, reducing the breakdown of neurotransmitters and increasing their concentration in the synaptic cleft. In this study, the overall risk of DILI in users of MAO-AIs was not significantly higher than that in non-users, perhaps due to the known liver toxicity of these drugs, leading clinicians to avoid prescribing them to high-risk patients. However, MAO-AIs demonstrate multiple interactions with other medications, food, or overdose, leading to an elevated risk of hepatotoxicity [ 27 ]. A significantly higher risk observed within the first 30 days with MAO-AI use in this study may be attributed to the potential omission of these interaction factors during the initial administration period.

On the other hand, using NSRIs involves liver metabolism, either through a direct toxic effect or a hypersensitivity reaction, and is influenced by other drugs that induce or inhibit microsomal enzymes [ 24 ]. Long-term NSRI users typically administer low doses. Hence, the risk of hepatotoxicity is less obvious. In particular, our findings revealed that patients using NSRIs (e.g., tricyclic antidepressants [TCAs] like imipramine or amitriptyline) for more than 90 days had a significantly reduced risk compared with non-users. This can be explained by the fact that most prescriptions for NSRIs with a low dose and long duration are given to nocturia sufferers. Nocturia is often managed by addressing underlying causes or conditions that contribute to increased nighttime urination, such as age, diabetes, and cardiovascular-related conditions [ 28 , 29 ]. NSRIs, with their anticholinergic effects that can affect bladder function, have been used off-label for managing nocturia. Overall, it is important to note that there may be residual confounding from long-term antidepressant usage in mitigating the risk of certain adverse outcomes.

Antidepressants, particularly SSRIs and SNRIs, are commonly used to treat depression and other psychological disorders, and awareness of their potential effects on the liver is essential. Clinicians should evaluate the patient’s condition when considering the risks and benefits of prescribing antidepressants and take appropriate measures where necessary.

5 Strengths and Limitations

The current study had several strengths, including a large sample size and longitudinal follow-up, which facilitated robust investigation of rare events such as liver injury. The effects of the duration of and cumulative exposure to antidepressant use were also examined to supplement existing evidence on the association between long-term antidepressant use and liver injury. Strict statistical analysis, including subgroup comparisons, was carried out to reduce the risk of bias.

This study also had several limitations. Firstly, this nationwide case–control study lacked detailed laboratory information such as hepatic fibrosis stage, baseline liver biochemical tests (e.g., alanine aminotransferase [ALT], alkaline phosphatase [ALP], total bilirubin [TB]), and lipid profile (e.g., triglycerides, low density lipoprotein cholesterol). Secondly, lack of access to medical records prevented use of a standardized definition for liver damage (e.g., Roussel Uclaf Causality Assessment Method [RUCAM]). Therefore, the lack of a validation study specifically conducted for the diagnosis code of liver injury in the NHIRD and the inclusion of only patients hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of liver injury (defined using ICD codes) may have led to selection bias. Thirdly, the NHIRD did not include information on the patients’ body index (e.g., height and weight), behavioral factors (e.g., alcohol consumption and smoking), and use of alternative medications (e.g., over-the-counter products and herbal products). These limitations were addressed by imposing strict criteria to exclude non-DILI patients.

6 Conclusion

This population-based study adds to existing evidence by exploring the association between antidepressant use and the risk of liver injury. Overall, the findings showed that antidepressant usage was consistently associated with an increased risk of liver injury, and this was particularly applicable to SSRI and SNRI users as well as those using antidepressants for 1–30 days.

Navarro VJ, Senior JR. Drug-related hepatotoxicity. N Engl J Med. 2006;354:731–9.

Article   CAS   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Sgro C, Clinard F, Ouazir K, Chanay H, Allard C, Guilleminet C, et al. Incidence of drug-induced hepatic injuries: a French population-based study. Hepatology (Baltimore, MD). 2002;36:451–5.

Article   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Chang CH, Chang YC, Lee YC, Liu YC, Chuang LM, Lin JW. Severe hepatic injury associated with different statins in patients with chronic liver disease: a nationwide population-based cohort study. J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2015;30:155–62.

Kao WY, Su CW, Huang YS, Chou YC, Chen YC, Chung WH, et al. Risk of oral antifungal agent-induced liver injury in Taiwanese. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2014;77:180–9.

Lee WM. Drug-induced hepatotoxicity. N Engl J Med. 2003;349:474–85.

Lucena MI, Andrade RJ, Kaplowitz N, García-Cortes M, Fernández MC, Romero-Gomez M, et al. Phenotypic characterization of idiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury: the influence of age and sex. Hepatology (Baltimore, MD). 2009;49:2001–9.

Kato Y, Nakata K, Omagari K, Kusumoto Y, Mori I, Furukawa R, et al. Clinical features of fulminant hepatitis in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. Intern Med Tokyo Jpn. 2001;40:5–8.

Article   CAS   Google Scholar  

Stirnimann G, Kessebohm K, Lauterburg B. Liver injury caused by drugs: an update. Swiss Med Wkly. 2010;140: w13080.

PubMed   Google Scholar  

Bell LN, Chalasani N. Epidemiology of idiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury. Semin Liver Dis. 2009;29:337–47.

Article   CAS   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Tajiri K, Shimizu Y. Practical guidelines for diagnosis and early management of drug-induced liver injury. World J Gastroenterol. 2008;14:6774–85.

Article   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Takikawa H, Murata Y, Horiike N, Fukui H, Onji M. Drug-induced liver injury in Japan: an analysis of 1676 cases between 1997 and 2006. Hepatol Res Off J Jpn Soc Hepatol. 2009;39:427–31.

Article   Google Scholar  

Hussaini SH, Farrington EA. Idiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury: an overview. Expert Opin Drug Saf. 2007;6:673–84.

Norris W, Paredes AH, Lewis JH. Drug-induced liver injury in 2007. Curr Opin Gastroenterol. 2008;24:287–97.

Carey EJ, Vargas HE, Douglas DD, Balan V, Byrne TJ, Harrison ME, et al. Inpatient admissions for drug-induced liver injury: results from a single center. Dig Dis Sci. 2008;53:1977–82.

DeSanty KP, Amabile CM. Antidepressant-induced liver injury. Ann Pharmacother. 2007;41:1201–11.

Carvajal García-Pando A, García del Pozo J, Sánchez AS, Velasco MA, Rueda de Castro AM, Lucena MI. Hepatotoxicity associated with the new antidepressants. J Clin Psychiatry. 2002;63:135–7.

Voican CS, Corruble E, Naveau S, Perlemuter G. Antidepressant-induced liver injury: a review for clinicians. Am J Psychiatry. 2014;171:404–15.

Ferrajolo C, Scavone C, Donati M, Bortolami O, Stoppa G, Motola D, et al. Antidepressant-Induced acute liver injury: a case–control study in an Italian inpatient population. Drug Saf. 2018;41:95–102.

Chen VCH, Lin CF, Hsieh YH, Liang HY, Huang KY, Chiu WC, et al. Hepatocellular carcinoma and antidepressants: a nationwide population-based study. Oncotarget. 2016;8:30464–70.

Article   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Huang KL, Chen YL, Stewart R, Chen VCH. Antidepressant use and mortality among patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. JAMA Netw Open. 2023;6: e2332579.

Jinjuvadia K, Kwan W, Fontana RJ. Searching for a needle in a haystack: use of ICD-9-CM codes in drug-induced liver injury. Am J Gastroenterol. 2007;102:2437–43.

Chen M, Suzuki A, Thakkar S, Yu K, Hu C, Tong W. DILIrank: the largest reference drug list ranked by the risk for developing drug-induced liver injury in humans. Drug Discov Today. 2016;21:648–53.

Licata A, Minissale MG, Calvaruso V, Craxì A. A focus on epidemiology of drug-induced liver injury: analysis of a prospective cohort. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2017;21:112–21.

CAS   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Todorović Vukotić N, Đorđević J, Pejić S, Đorđević N, Pajović SB. Antidepressants- and antipsychotics-induced hepatotoxicity. Arch Toxicol. 2021;95:767–89.

Tracy TS, Chaudhry AS, Prasad B, Thummel KE, Schuetz EG, Zhong X-B, et al. Interindividual variability in cytochrome P450-mediated drug metabolism. Drug Metab Dispos Biol Fate Chem. 2016;44:343–51.

Hicks J, Bishop J, Sangkuhl K, Müller D, Ji Y, Leckband S, et al. Clinical pharmacogenetics implementation consortium (CPIC) guideline for CYP2D6 and CYP2C19 genotypes and dosing of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2015;98:127–34.

Fiedorowicz JG, Swartz KL. The role of monoamine oxidase inhibitors in current psychiatric practice. J Psychiatr Pract. 2004;10:239–48.

FitzGerald MP, Litman HJ, Link CL, McKinlay JB. The association of nocturia with cardiac disease, diabetes, body mass index, age and diuretic use: results from the BACH survey. J Urol. 2007;177:1385–9.

Lightner DJ, Krambeck AE, Jacobson DJ, McGree ME, Jacobsen SJ, Lieber MM, et al. Nocturia is associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease and death. BJU Int. 2012;110:848–53.

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Department of Pharmacy, Asia University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan

Ching-Ya Huang

School of Pharmacy, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan

Ching-Ya Huang & Yow-Wen Hsieh

Department of Pharmacy, China Medical University Hospital, 2 Yuh-Der Road, Taichung, 404327, Taiwan

Ying-Shu You, Jian-Ming Lai, Hsing-Yu Hsu & Yow-Wen Hsieh

Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

Ying-Shu You

Management Office for Health Data, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan

Cheng-Li Lin

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yow-Wen Hsieh .

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest.

None of the authors have any conflicts of interest to disclose.

This study was partly supported by the Taiwan Ministry of Health and Welfare Clinical Trial Center (MOHW112-TDU-B-212-144004), China Medical University Hospital (DMR-111-105; DMR-112-087;DMR-113-009). We express our gratitude to the Health Data Science Center, China Medical University Hospital for providing administrative, technical, and funding support.

Ethics Approval

This study involving human participants was reviewed and approved by Institutional Review Board of China Medical University Hospital Research Ethics Committee [CMUH109-REC2-031(CR-4)] on February 04, 2024. Written informed consent for participation was not required for this study in accordance with the national legislation and the institutional requirements.

Consent to Participate

Not applicable.

Consent for Publication

Data availability.

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article materials. The dataset used in this study is held by the Taiwan Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW). The Ministry of Health and Welfare must approve our application to access this data. Any researcher interested in accessing this dataset can submit an application form to the Ministry of Health and Welfare requesting access. Please contact the staff of MOHW (Email: wt.vog.whom@uwloracts) for further assistance. Taiwan Ministry of Health and Welfare Address: No.488, Sec. 6, Zhongxiao E. Rd., Nangang Dist., Taipei City 115, Taiwan (R.O.C.). Phone: +886-2-8590-6848.

Code Availability

Author contributions.

CYH and YWH contributed to the conception of the study and design. YSY took responsibility for the material preparation and methodology. YSY, CML, CLL, and HYH conducted the data collection, analysis, and interpretation. All authors drafted the manuscript, and CYH and YWH critically reviewed the article’s intellectual content. All authors read and approved the final version.

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ .

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Huang, CY., You, YS., Lai, JM. et al. The Association Between Antidepressant Use and Drug-Induced Liver Injury: A Nationwide, Population-Based Case–Control Study in Taiwan. Drugs - Real World Outcomes (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40801-024-00419-0

Download citation

Accepted : 25 February 2024

Published : 05 June 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s40801-024-00419-0

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Find a journal
• Publish with us
• Track your research

Thesaurus for Case-study

Related terms for case-study - synonyms, antonyms and sentences with case-study, similar meaning.

• case analysis
• case examination
• case report
• case exploration
• case investigation
• case research
• case review
• case study analysis
• case-studies

Nothing suggested yet. Maybe you know some?

Sentence examples, proper usage in context.

• And there's no known case-study of that nature
• The area studies primarily used qualitative case-study methods