Özet:

Objective: The objective of this study is to gain an in-depth understanding of Turkish community pharmacists’ perception on the promotion of food supplements and herbal products by social media influencers. Material and Method: This research was planned as a case study in a qualitative research design. Semi-structured interview was used to collect data. After the data were transcribed verbatim, the data were analyzed and coded through thematic analysis by developing themes and sub-themes to make the connection. Result and Discussion: Twelve community pharmacists participated in the study. Three main themes developed which are “attitudes towards phenomenon marketing”, “characteristics of phenomena” and “adopting the role of phenomenon”. In this study, some pharmacists expressed a moderate view on the use of influencers in promoting food supplements and herbal products, while others expressed an oppositional view to the opinion leadership role of pharmacists. Various legal arrangements should be made for pharmacists to adopt the role of influencers in social media in the future of pharmacy practice. Gaining competence to manage a social media account professionally as a healthcare professional to convey credible messages about food supplements and herbal medicines to consumers is essential.

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