Table 3 Associative strategies and associated pressures

Associative strategies

 • Publication and use of testimonies by patients or key influencers is considered an effective strategy to reach and influence decision-makers;

 • Recruit support from other actors to enhance their reputation, via the prominence of key opinion leaders;

 • Symbolic actions seem to positively influence some actors, especially those in the medical field and the financial world;

 • Borrow some tactics and approaches of the pharmaceutical industry, even at a different scale;

 • Increase the number of rep visits;

 • Educate health system actors in the skills and knowledge needed to use technology.

In reaction to

 Power of key influencers

  • Two actors stand out in that organizational field: investors who have virtually the power of life and death over the product and medical specialist who will be at the center of the technology acquisition decision.

 Awareness of the prominence-based marketing moves

  • Healthcare professionals and medical specialists are very sensitive to acquisition in other health centers and the fact that it can give credit and visibility to the entrepreneur.