EAP Evidence: Marketing Myths and Truths Compared for Techno and Traditional Programs - Industry Survey Global Results

Abstract

This third column focuses on a troubling trend in the marketing of workplace mental health services in the multi-billion dollar market for EAP services. In this article I explore the level of truth in the messages characteristic of the newer Techno-EAPs and compare them against those of the more traditional full-service employee assistance providers. The marketing from some of these newer technology-based companies tends to mischaracterize the purpose of EAPs, how much they are used, and how effective they are in supporting individual users and the larger work organizations they serve. To get some data on the accuracy of these marketing claims and try to discern fact from fiction, I conducted a survey of 141 experienced professionals active in the EAP industry in 2023. This study found that the newer technology-based vendors are perceived by 19% of the sample as taking a collaborative approach to act as business partners with other more established EAPs. Another 31% of the sample thought that Techno-EAPs have a business objective of trying to replace other existing EAPs altogether. This competitive tension is especially strong in the US market. This study documented substantial concerns among about the veracity of most of these kinds of marketing themes from seasoned professionals in the US who are knowledgeable about the field of EAP. On average, this data showed that the newer Techno-EAPs appear to be making untrue claims far more often in their marketing than do the more established Traditional EAPs (39% vs. 6%, respectively)