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BEHAVIOUR IN PHARMACEUTICALS
THESIS
SUBMITTED TO THE
UNIVERSITY OF LUCKNOW
FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
IN
BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
SUBMITTED BY:
RAM DHEERAJ
UNIVERSITY OF LUCKNOW
Date:
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Mr. Ram Dheeraj has carried out the research work presented in this
Lucknow under my supervision. The thesis embodies results of original work, and studies
are carried out by the student herself and the contents of the thesis do not form the basis
for the award of other degree to the candidate or to anybody else from this or any other
University/Institution.
Supervisor
Assistant Professor
Lucknow University, Lucknow is my own original work and has not been submitted for
University/Institutions.
Ram Dheeraj
COUNTERSIGNED
This is to certify that the above declaration by the candidate is true to the best of my
knowledge.
Supervisor
It is with immense gratitude and pleasure that I acknowledge the help and support of my
supervisor Dr. S. K. Kaushal - Goodman in this thesis. He has been an excellent guide,
mentor and friend in this journey. I am so deeply grateful for his help, professionalism,
and valuable guidance throughout this research and through my entire program of study
that I do not have enough words to express my deep and sincere appreciation.
I would like to thank to Prof. Arvind Kumar, Dean of Commerce Faculty, Mr. Sanjay
Administration and all the respected teachers and staff of the Department for their
This thesis would not have been possible without the love and support of my family and
friends. I especially thank Vijay Shankar Pandey and Robbin Verma for his helpful
insights and for standing by me through good times and bad. I also acknowledge him for
Finally, I must express my very profound gratitude to my parents, wife Sunita, daughter
Advika, brother Rahul and Sister Shilpi for providing me with unfailing support and
researching and writing this thesis. This accomplishment would not have been possible
(Ram Dheeraj)
ABSTRACT
This study was conducted to develop a simple framework for finding out the impact of the
industry on the Consumer Purchase behavior and prescribing behavior of doctors. The
trend towards self-medication is likely to grow as consumers are becoming familiar with
OTC drugs, due to extensive advertising by companies. The present study intends to
consumers and Doctors. Although there are different means of providing the consumers
with drug information, advertising seems to be one of the best way and a powerful
buying the medicine lies in the hand of customer (doctor) rather than final consumer
(patient). So the customer (doctor) acts as an indirect consumer. Due to this there are
two types of customers ear-marked in this study, one is doctor who is indirect consumer
and the other one is patient who is direct consumer. The advertisement of
Pharmaceutical was found to be persuasive. The study has given good insights for
marketers and advertisers of drugs and suggests including elements in the advertisement
that increase believability and trust of the advertisement. Results of factor analysis
revealed the view that the overall mean score of all the 27 items of attitude towards
prescription behavior was 2.96 and standard deviation 0.9091.This indicates that
Moreover the study also focused on whether the perception of physicians towards various
promotional tools is different with respect to demographic variables. This research based
Sectional study used to compare demographical variables with attitude of the respondent.
technique has been followed. Survey was conducted and data was analyzed on the basis
Researcher has applied factor analysis for data reduction and ANOVA & Chi-Square test
for hypothesis testing. Findings of the study can help the marketing managers of
doctors and consumers. Construct validity and reliability of the data were tested using
Independence were generated to study the relationship between measures for each of the
research questions and the demographics & miscellaneous variables. Results show that
advertisement is effective in affecting the decision process and positive impression of the
advertisement that gets the attention with educational qualification, Occupation and age
advertisement creates more attention and makes their impacts in selection of medicine.
Doctor agreed that Medical Representative is a key element for providing information
about medicines and they are important promotional channel used by companies that
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Classification of Drugs 4
1.2.1 OTC Drugs 4
1.2.2 Ayurvedic Drugs 6
1.3 Drug Promotion and Drug Advertising in India 7
1.3.1 Advertising to the General Public 11
1.3.2 Advertising The Products In Medical Journal 11
1.3.3 Direct mailing of publicity material to doctors 13
1.3.4 Medical conferences, especially for a new product 13
1.3.5 Electronic or Broadcast Media Advertising 13
1.3.6 Outdoor Media 14
1.3.7 Other Media 14
Pharmaceutical Advertisement for OTC medicine or Direct
1.4 14
Consumer Advertising.
Strategies for New And Switched OTC Pharmaceutical
1.5 15
Products.
1.5.1 Invest in generics 19
Pharmaceutical Companies Business Strategies for
1.5.2 19
Prescription Drugs
1.5.2.1 Marketing approaches of Super Core Model. 20
1.5.2.2 Marketing approaches of Core Model 22
1.6 Pharmaceutical marketing process and challenges 24
1.7 Growth Rate of OTC Medicines 25
1.8 Branding in Pharmaceutical Marketing 27
1.9 Understanding Consumer Behavior 28
1.10 Consumer Behavior in Pharma Sector 29
S.No Description Page No.
1.11 Consumer Pyramid 30
1.11.1 Factors Influencing Consumer Behavior 31
1.11.1.1 Cultural Factors 31
1.11.1.2 Social Factors 32
1.11.1.2.1 Reference group 33
1.11.1.2.2 Family 34
1.11.1.2.3 Social status and role 34
1.11.1.3 Personal Factors 34
1.11.1.3.1 Age and stage in life cycle 36
1.11.1.3.2 Personality and self concept 36
1.11.1.4 Psychological Factors 36
1.11.1.4.1 Motivation 38
1.11.1.4.2 Perception 38
1.11.1.4.3 Learning 38
S.No Description Page No.
4.10.3 Classification on the basis of No. of years of practice 172
4.10.4 Classification on the basis of Regional Status of practice 173
4.10.5 Classification on the basis of practice hours by doctors 175
4.10.6 Classification on the basis of O.P.D frequency 176
Impact of Pharmaceutical Advertisement on doctor's
4.11 Prescription Behavior 178
Importance of medium providing information about medicine
4.12 available for patient in the market 190
Reliability of information provided through different media
4.13 about medicines 196
Impact of Medical Representative on Doctor Prescription
4.14 behavior 201
Medical Representative as key element for providing
4.15 information about medicines 203
Importance of promotional items /other facilities distributed
4.16 /provided by companies for doctors 205
Effectiveness of information provided through different
4.17 media in doctor prescription 209
Importance of promotional channels used by companies and
4.18 their long lasting effect on the mind of doctors 214
Influence of prescription decision of doctor w.r.t Branded
4.19 medicine, Generic medicine and patient demand 220
Influence of prescription decision of doctor w.r.t specialized
promotional channels, creativity in pharmaceutical
4.20 advertisement and frequency of pharmaceutical advertisement 221
4.21 Impact and extent of impact of Pharmaceutical advertisement 224
5 Discussions and Conclusion 244
6 Bibliography 253
APPENDICES
Appendix A: - Questionnaire for Consumer.
i
Appendix B: - Questionnaire for Doctor. iv
LIST OF TABLES
S.no Description Page No.
Association of suggestion by which common use
Table no. 4.2.5.2 130
medicine are purchased with Educational qualification
Association of suggestion by which common use
Table no.4.2.5.3 133
medicine are purchased with occupation
Association of suggestion by which consumer can
Table no. 4.2.5.4 136
purchase common use medicine with Marital Status.
Table no. 4.2.6 Influencer in selecting medicine for common diseases 139
Association of factor influencing most in selecting
Table no. 4.2.6.1 141
medicine for common disease with family type
Association of factor influencing most in selecting
Table no. 4.2.6.2 medicine for common disease with Educational 143
Qualification.
Association between Occupation and factor influence
Table no. 4.2.6.3 145
most in selecting medicine for common diseases
Association between Marital Status and factor influence
Table no. 4.2.6.4 149
most in selecting medicine for common diseases
Association between Age and factor influence most in
Table no. 4.2.6.5 151
selecting medicine for common diseases.
Table no.4.3 Lasting effect of Advertisement 153
Table no.4.4 Impact advertisement to create need among consumer. 155
Nature of attention paid by consumer in pharmaceutical
Table no. 4.5 157
advertisement
Table no. 4.6 Attributes observed in advertisement 158
Table no. 4.7 Extent of influence of Pharmaceutical Advertisement 159
Table no.4.8 Relying on advertisement in purchase decision 161
Advertising attributes that impacts in selection of
Table no.4.9 163
medicines
Table no. 4.10 Doctor-directed promotion methods 168
Table no.4.10.1 Qualification wise classification of Doctor 170
Classification on the basis of Position hold by
Table no.4.10.2 171
respondents
Table no.4.10.3 Classification on the basis of No. of years of practice 173
Classification on the basis of Regional Status of Practice
Table no.4.10.4 174
Place
Table no.4.10.5 Classification on the basis of Practice Hours 175
177
Table no. 4.10.6 Classification on the basis of O.P.D Frequency
S. No Description Page No.
Table no.4.11.1 Mean and standard deviation of all 27 items 178
Table no.4.11.2 KMO and Bartlett's Test 181
Table no.4.11.3 Principal component analysis: Varimax rotation Matrix 182
Table no.4.11.4 Total variance explained (Rotation) 183
Table.no.4.11.5 Naming of factors 185
Importance of medium providing information about
Table.no.4.12 191
medicines
Reliability of information provided through different
Table.no.4.13 197
medium
Table.no.4.14 Visit of Medical Representative in practice hours. 202
Table.no.4.14.1 Frequency of MR Visited per day 203
Table.no.4.15 Medical Representative as key element 204
Table.no.4.16 Importance of promotional items 205
Effectiveness of information provided through different
Table.no.4.17 210
media
Importance of promotional channels used by companies
Table no. 4.18 215
and their long lasting effect on the mind of doctors
Table no. 4.19 Influence of prescription decision of doctor 221
Influence of prescription decision of doctor w.r.t
Table no. 4.20 223
specialized promotional channels
Table no. 4.21 ANOVA by Doctor Educational Qualification 224
Table no. 4.22 ANOVA by Regional Status of Practice Place 233
LIST OF FIGURES
LIST OF ABBREVIATION
CDSCO: Central Drugs Standard Control Organization.
LIST OF KEY WORDS
Antacids: are medicines that neutralize stomach acid or used to relieve acid
gas.
microorganisms.
Dermatological: medicine dealing with the skin, its structure, functions, and diseases.
Detailing: Interacting with doctors in their clinics and promoting the product.
brand/reference listed drug product in dosage form, strength, quality and performance
Organization.
them.
Omeprazole: Medicine belongs to group of drugs called proton pump inhibitors. It
decreases the amount of acid produced in the stomach. Omeprazole is used to treat
symptoms of gastro esophageal reflux disease (GERD) and other conditions caused by
physician or other medical practitioner in the form of instructions that govern the plan
Schedule G drugs: Schedule G drug is a prescription drug that can be sold purely
Schedule H drugs: These are drugs which cannot be purchased over the counter
Schedule K drugs: drug is not sold for medicinal use or for use in the manufacture of
medicines and that each container is labeled conspicuously with the words NOT FOR
MEDICINAL USE.
Schedule X drugs: A drug with a very high teratogenic risk to a fetus, based on
mouth to temporarily stop coughs and lubricate and soothe irritated tissues of
the throat (usually due to a sore throat), possibly from the common cold or influenza.
CHAPTER- 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 INTRODUCTION
to the present and prospective customers. It usually provides information about the
advertising firm, its product qualities, place of availability of its products, etc.
Advertisement is indispensable for both the sellers and the buyers. However, it is
more important for the sellers. In the modern age of large scale production, producers
acquired great importance in the modern world where tough competition in the market
medicine lies in the hand of customer (doctor) rather than final consumer
there are two types of customers ear-marked in this study, one is doctor who is
indirect consumer and the other one is patient who is direct consumer. In context
prescription behavior of the customer (doctor), along with the direct consumer
who purchase the OTC drug (Over the Counter Drug)1 which doesnt requires
the prescription of the doctors. The Pharmaceutical marketing differs from other
OTC drug are medicines sold directly to a consumer without a prescription from a healthcare
professional
-1-
types of marketing because the consumer i.e. the patients are not the target audience,
whereas the physicians prescribing the medicines are the target audience of the
pharmaceutical companies. It is the doctor who makes the decision on behalf of the
patient. Physicians are privileged with the right of recognizing the need of their
patients and recommend medications for the well-being of their patients. Hence, the
relation between the physician and pharmaceutical companies may create a conflict
between the ethical professional interest of a doctor and his financial self-interest. The
marketing their product. Giving away gifts, free lunches, sponsoring education and
holidays have all been criticized as inducements which compel a doctor to prescribe
A study from Canada showed that the association with pharmaceuticals leads to less
physicians, however, do not feel that their prescriptions are influenced by gifts and
consumer choice and it also enables consumers to purchase goods as per their budget
requirement and right choice which makes consumer happy and satisfied. A good
advertising campaign involves lots of creativity and imagination. When the message
of the advertiser matches the expectations of consumers, such creativity makes the
way for successful campaign. The advertiser expects to create a favourable attitude
which leads to a favourable action. Any advertising process attempts at converting the
persuasion technique and it does not attempt at maximizing profits by increasing the
-2-
cost but by promoting the sales so in this way it wont lead to increase the price of the
product. Thus, it has a higher sales approach rather than the higher-cost approach.
meant for individuals but for all. There is absence of personal appeal in advertising.
There is an Identified Sponsor who may be an individual or a firm, pays for the
advertisement and the name of a reputed company may increase sales of products. In
design, brochure design and development, video production, medical animations and
profession also towards the right usage of the drugs. It is relevant to note at this
juncture that there are three fundamental elements in product costs in any modern
development costs. In drug industry particularly, the products are rather numerous and
diverse, indicated for a host of disease conditions, and each product has its own
which further adds to the costs which becomes more important when the industry has
-3-
to serve doctors in rural areas who are not highly qualified and yet are called upon to
In view of the advances in drug therapy witnessed during the post independence
period, it is only natural that the members of the medical profession wish to stay
abreast of the new discoveries and developments taking place in the medical world
from time to time. For such a target audience, communication about the vital
that. It is he who details a product thoroughly to a practicing doctor and discusses the
precautions, contraindications, pack and price of the product. Doctor raises several
queries concerning the use of the product in the types of patients he sees in his day-to-
day practice, and thus collects complete information on the product and its relative
sale of drugs and cosmetics are regulated by the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940
(DCA), the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945 (DCR) OTC Drugs.
1.2.1 OTC Drugs: - In India OTC drugs has no legal recognition, the phrase OTC
has no legal recognition in India, all the drugs not included in the list of
OTC Drugs means drugs legally allowed to be sold Over the Counter by
-4-
pharmacists, i.e. without the prescription of a Registered Medical Practitioner. All
those medicines which are listed in Schedules H and X of the Drug and Cosmetics
mandatory text on the label: Caution: It is dangerous to take this preparation except
Schedule K of the Drugs and Cosmetic Act4 in villages whose population is below
There are different categories comes under OTC, out of which there are few
follows:
1. Rubs/ Balm - Moov, Iodex, Emami Mentho Plus, Himani Fast Relief, Amrujanjan
Antihistamines are mainly used to help control symptoms caused by health conditions associated with
allergic reactions.
An Act to regulate the import, manufacture, distribution and sale of drugs.
-5-
1.2.2 Ayurvedic Medicines: - OTC drugs registered as Ayurvedic Medicines (i.e.
regulated by the DCA and DCR. Ayurvedic drugs are manufactured under a
they do not require a drug sale license and can be sold freely by non-chemists.
Some of the largest OTC brands in India are registered as Ayurvedic Medicines
because of their plant-based natural active ingredients (e.g. Vicks Vapo Rub,
Amrutanjan Pain Balm, Zandu Pain Balm, Iodex Pain Balm, Moov Pain Cream, Itch
Guard Cream, Eno Fruit Salt antacid, Vicks Cough Drops, Halls Lozenges, Dabur
Pudina Hara, Calcium Sandoz etc.). Considering the above framework, key categories
with OTC potential in India would be: vitamins and minerals, health tonics, cough
There is also a provision under schedule G and H which exempts Topical or external
steroids) applications of the ingredients from these schedules. For Example: while
Diclofenac5 is listed in Schedule H but Topical form of the same is excluded. Some of
the vitamin supplements come under price control, which can be addressed by making
Aspirin also come under price control, through Drug Price Control Order (DPCO).
Advertisements) Act, 1954 and Rules, 1955. This Act controls the advertisements for
certain category of drugs with a view to prevent people from self medication under
-6-
1.3 Drug Promotion and Drug Advertising in India: - Drug promotion in India
practices in the drugs category is driven by drug promotion. The very nature of
prescription drugs market is ethically driven hence it is also called as the ethical
support and encourage the improvement of health care through the rational use of
drugs and to curb unethical marketing practices, came out with a landmark Ethical
criteria for medicinal drug promotion. It is an outline document which defines drug
medicinal drugs. However, as per the WHO this criterion does not constitute legal
they seem fit. It also advises that other groups may adopt self-regulatory measures
based on them. Drug promotion also includes the activities of medical representatives,
information about the drug it produces, but it should do so in a fair, accurate, and
ethical manner. The blurring boundaries of what constitutes fair practices are of
intense debate in issues involving drugs promotion. Many studies have noted that
drug companies are involved extensively in promoting their brands by paying huge
kickbacks and the relationship between actors in the distribution network is almost
-7-
always based on perverse set of incentives (Angell M. 2005). Studies have also
identified the variety of ways and means in which the drug industry influences doctors
and the doctors in turn due to their fiduciary position are susceptible to perverse
incentives. In the year 2008, the pharmaceutical industry in India spent a total of Rs
4941.15 crore, in which advertising expenses were 823.57 crore and drug marketing
2470.44 crore.6 The Indian Medical Council Act 1956, and the Code of Medical
Ethics 2002, governs the conduct of physicians in India. There are voluntary
promotion, but they have not been effective. In fact, there seems to be no logical
reason that the voluntary codes which aim at restricting or regulating drug promotion
is in direct conflict with the interests of drug industry. In totality, all measures
currently available under law have largely remained ineffective to deal with the
collusion crises in the prescription drug markets. An editorial in one of Indias reputed
There seems to be obvious double standards in adoption of the code. While in the
which are published in medical journals, the very same companies promote the same
Remedies Act.7
6
Source www.cci.gov.in.
7
An Act to control the advertisement of drugs in certain cases, to prohibit the advertisement for certain
purposes of remedies alleged to possess magic qualities and to provide for matters connected therewith.
-8-
The Drugs Enquiry Committee, 19308 under the chairmanship of Sir R. N. Chopra
was the first authoritative attempt by the Government to look which scrutinized the
pamphlets of drugs which made spurious claims. However, not much has been
achieved since then except the introduction of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1955 has
largely remained unenforced due to the apathy and general disinterest of the health
enforcements (Thawani.V. 2002). For example: Hamdard Dawa khana filed a writ to
the Supreme Court of India asking it to declare the direction for recalling 40 drugs as
bad in law as basically violating their right to free speech and right to carry on trade
and business.
decision maker for the ultimate user the patient, the industry has a powerful influence
on prescribing habits (Lancet 1993). The industry is often blamed for its marketing
practices, which has been considerable covered and discussed in western literature
(Angell.M. 2005). It is noted that while doctors uniformly deny that their
information to the doctors about new drugs, including its usefulness and efficacy may
have precompetitive effects, marketing strategies adopted by firms may downplay the
demand side and hence raise prices for consumers. How doctor decides which drug is
to be prescribed to his patients is at the heart of controversy. Popular news reports and
-9-
companies, pharmacists and doctors, it is noted that these actors are routinely wooed
with gifts ranging from mobile phones to sponsored weddings and sometimes
postpaid mobile connections are also provided. Interviews conducted during the
course of this study reveal that it extends from sponsored conferences in five-stars to
high-value gifts like motorcycles and. There are even cases where pharma companies
helped doctors to set up small nursing homes. However, there is no concrete evidence
to point specific people, institutions or companies, since these interviews were held in
confidence. A list of three collected news items published in the Times of India on
drug promotion does portray various facets of drug promotion in India. Such
incidences have long been noted in the medical fraternity, but have rarely been
thoroughly investigated. In this study, based on earlier studies and reports, investigate
such practices from a horizontal and vertical agreement point of view. This is despite
the fact that inappropriate prescriptions could lead to dangerous side effects, medical
complications and needless expenses for patients. It has also been noted that medical
associations have allegedly warned pharmaceutical companies, that they you dont
sponsor our conference they will boycott your drugs. Some experts and commentators
are also of the view that breakthrough drugs that enter the market early are promoted
sponsor weddings and birthdays of doctors kith and kin. Medical representatives are
under constant pressure to push for higher sales they reason why they resort to
providing perverse set of incentives to the doctors. The sales driven motivations for
MRs warrant that MRs resort to activities that can call ethics of promotion into
Source of primary literature on drug promotion are articles published in peer reviewed
- 10 -
journals, secondary literature includes abstracts of various types of published
literature, reference from text books and other standard literature. Commentators point
that few physicians are equipped with skills to critically evaluate and appraise it. It is
these drugs is the prime reason for them being swayed away with arguments
drug is relevant to their practice in terms of population studied, the disease and the
1.3.1 Advertising to the General Public:- The Drug & Magic Remedies
(Objectionable Advertisement) Act & Rules mentions a list of ailments for which no
directly or indirectly, give false impressions regarding the true character of the drug,
make false claims, or are otherwise false or misleading in any particular respect.
IFPMA code. Currently, there is no specific law which prohibits the advertising of
prescription drugs.
attract attention because they are visually appealing also see them as a way of keeping
medical practicenor up-to-date. The Ethical Criteria for Medicinal Drug Promotion
developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) suggest the types of information
box ). The aim is to ensure that basic information needed for prescribing decisions is
present.
- 11 -
The medicines International Nonproprietary Name (INN), usually the generic name,
is a key piece of information that should always be included. Generic names help
doctors and pharmacists to identify which class a medicine belongs to and can
prevent doctors from unknowingly prescribing two medicines from the same class to
a patient.
The World Health Organizations Ethical Criteria recommend that the following
journals.
Name (INN)
Brand name
Major interactions
- 12 -
1.3.3 Direct mailing of publicity material to doctors:- It is the sending of
There has been a massive growth in direct mail campaigns over the last 5 years.
Direct mail allows an organization to use their resources more effectively by allowing
them to send publicity material to a named person within their target segment.
medical conference to promote new products in order to provide the information like
uses, dose regimen, contradiction & adverse effect etc. to the medical practitioner.
media consists of (i) radio, (ii) television, (iii) motion pictures, (iv) video and (v) the
internet. The radio is audio in nature, appealing only to the sense of sound (ears).
audio-visual medium appealing to both the senses of sight sound (eyes and ears).
Different methods, such as spot announcements, sponsored programmes etc. are used
Digestives
Antacids
- 13 -
Antiflatulents
registered)
Analgesic/cold tablets
Antiseptic creams/liquids
Glucose powders
Cough syrups
Throat lozenges
1.3.6 Outdoor Media: - This includes posters, neon signs, transit, point of purchase
(POP), etc. Outdoor advertising can be a good supporting media to other forms of
1.3.7 Other Media: - This includes direct mail, handbills, calendars, diaries, cinema
advertising and internet and so on. These miscellaneous media can play an important
advertising: - Prescription drugs are the drugs which are required to be dispensed
- 14 -
under the supervision of a physician. On the other hand, over the counter drugs can
traditional pharmaceutical media for exposing and raising the product message of
convention or hospital displays and service items such as educational films, medical
illustrations and photographs, office supplies, text books, and exhibitions etc.
etc. No newspaper or journal today can survive without advertising revenue. Print
media advertising, even today, is the most popular form; and revenue Derived by
mass media from advertising has, therefore, been progressively increasing year after
year. Print media appeals only to the sense of sight, i.e. eyes. Printed advertisements
have the advantage of being directly in front of the consumer who elects to read them.
By reading an advertisement the consumers becomes better informed and are more
likely to follow-up on the product. In addition, print media has the advantage of being
tangible to consumers who can carry the medium with them or follow-up with it on
the web.
1.5 Strategies for New and Switched OTC Pharmaceutical Products:- OTC
marketing strategies are most important and unavoidable aspect of any pharmaceutical
that is too small to attract challenging generic competition, at least in the short term. It
could also be that the awareness and image of the brand is so strong in patients and
doctors minds that it would retain most of its equity even after the loss of patent
- 15 -
protection. In most cases however, the entry of generic competitors radically alters the
competitive setting and calls for appropriate radical responses, the few major
prescription drug facing competition from existing generic product involve a trade-off
A company can also resort to no marketing oriented strategies such as legal efforts to
extend patent protection or tactical alliances with generic makers and can
nevertheless useful to review each strategy independently, starting from the most
common to the least common. Some of the strategies are discussed here
i) Low Price strategy: This strategy has the lowest potential for brand building. On
the other hand, narrowing the price gap with revital addresses the main problem
created by the expiry of the patent; that the equity of the brand can no longer sustain a
large price differential with what is, essentially, the same product. At the extreme,
comparing the price with the generic will make doctors, pharmacists and regulators
indifferent between the two and may force the weakest generic makers out of the
business, given their lower economies of scale. On the other hand, price competition
invites retaliation and can quickly degenerate into a price war that would kill all the
profits in the category. Another issue to be kept in mind here is that most doctors who
prescribe the drug are not aware of prices. Communicating the price to the consumers
ii) Divest strategy: - It involves cutting all promotional and research expenses
once the brand faces direct competition from revital and redirecting the savings
- 16 -
towards brands that are still enjoying patent protection. Sometimes, this milking
strategy actually involves price increases to take advantage of the higher brand equity
of the brand among the smaller segment of hard core loyal customers. This strategy
leads to the lowest levels of brand building as the brand is not supported and price
competition as the price advantage is not challenged. The success of this strategy
depends on the inertia of doctors, patients and the other Stakeholders. When their
financial incentives or strong attachment to the brand or to the value of brand equity
for funding research and development, such a strategy can deliver high profitability, at
least over the short term. As many examples have shown, it is not always easy to
convince doctors and patients to upgrade to the new patent protected drug in the
One of the major drawbacks of this strategy is that it encourages generic makers to
challenge drug patents more aggressively, knowing that the market will be all theirs as
soon as they have received the green light. Introducing new and improved flavors,
consumer benefits. The resulting differentiation enhances the awareness and image of
the brand and hence increases its equity. Because these innovations typically do not
extend patent life however, it is more difficult to pass the costs on to the consumer
when facing generic competition and hence, this strategys leads one step ahead
generics and thus often have only a weak impact on sales, while reducing margins.
These changes can also be perceived as marketing gimmicks and hurt the perceived
scientific integrity of the brands which Provide more value to the money.
- 17 -
iii) Innovation strategy sort of introducing a completely new molecule,
demonstrating effectiveness for new indications. They can also innovate by offering
better services for doctors and better communication on the illness and on the brand
through higher promotion by the medical representatives. Compared with the Milk
and Divest strategy, this option also entails low price competition, but can improve
the equity of the off-patent brand by offering additional patent protection. On the
other hand, innovations require years of research before being authorized and, in some
countries, do not necessarily extend the duration of the patent. Provide more value for
the money introducing new and improved flavors, packaging, or delivery systems
(e.g. easy to swallow pills, or patches) can lead to additional emotional or functional
consumer benefits. The resulting differentiation enhances the awareness and image of
the brand and hence increases its equity. Because these innovations typically do not
extend patent life however, it is more difficult to pass the costs on to the consumer
when facing generic competition and hence, this strategys lead is one step ahead
OTC marketing companies and thus often have only a weak impact on sales, while
reducing margins. These changes can also be perceived as Marketing gimmicks and
hurt the perceived scientific integrity of the brand. Pharmaceutical companies can try
to fight at both ends of the market by introducing their own generic. This will reduce
the profitability of generic makers and may deter them from entering the category. On
the other hand, pharmaceutical companies have realized that producing and marketing
revital requires different skills to their traditional business and that it is difficult to be
- 18 -
To overcome this difficulty, pharmaceutical companies can license the drug before the
expiry of the patent in exchange for royalties. The new copy will typically be priced
higher than a true generic, but will benefit from first mover advantage, preferential
access to raw material and manufacturing know how, while still deterring entry from
1.5.1 Invest in generics: - Pharmaceutical companies can try to fight at both ends of
the market by introducing their own generic. This will reduce the profitability of
generic9 makers and may discourage them from entering the category. On the other
hand, pharmaceutical companies have realized that producing and marketing generics
strong player in both business models. Finally it is inevitable that the competition
from generics will erode the profitability of the original brand and pharmaceutical
companies should not put up a fight and the continuous investments in brand building,
coupled with price cuts and at the end consumers, marketers both are happy.
One of the constants of pharmaceutical company strategy over the past decade has
been increasing scale. Only by growing larger are companies able to afford the
considerable costs of drug development and distribution. Within this broad approach
(i) Super Core Model involving the search for, and distribution of a small
number of drugs from Chronic Therapy Area that achieve substantial global
sales. The success of this model depends on achieving large returns from a
Generic drugs are marketed under a non-proprietary or approved name rather than a proprietary or
brand name.
- 19 -
small number of drugs in order to pay for the high cost of the drug discovery
and development process for a large number of patients. Total revenues are
(ii) Core Model in which a larger number of drugs from Acute Therapy Area
are marketed to big diversified markets. The advantage of this model is that
there has been a significant shift from Acute towards Chronic Therapy area. Chronic
segments are driving the growth of the market as leading prescribers in these
segments are specialists as opposed to general practioners. This is evident from high
growth rates achieved by firms like Sun Pharma, Dr. Reddy Laboratories and Dabur
Pharma Ltd. who have focused on these segments.10 Medical representatives are
rearranged throughout the new companies and more or less some of the sales
representatives are afraid of losing their job, due to the changing scenario and the
possible lay offs. On the other hand, the new, bigger, pharmaceutical companies are
competing more and more with one another and in order to stress their products might
adopt a more aggressive sales strategy. For Example: sometimes in the same
geographical area there are five representatives for just one company, or different
representatives for the same drug in different settings. As a result of the new
since the larger stress exerted by their companies might affect their stay in the
company. Therefore, they tend to have more frequent visits to encourage doctors to
10
Source S.K.Saxsena A review of marketing strategies work by different pharmaceutical
companies
- 20 -
prescribe drugs and thus increase sales. In this model medical representatives are the
key actors. For Example: in a small oncology11 unit almost 40 sales representatives
interacting with doctors, and most of them are coming for a visit on a regular once a
month basis as this is the restriction put by doctors of meeting only once in a month
that to on a fix time only, in order to stress the usefulness of their products and push
clinicians towards the use of their drugs. This means that basically there are at least
two representatives every day in busy clinic asking for a short meeting to support their
channel members i.e. depot/C&FA, stockiest and chemist and it is shown in figure
1.1.
CORE CUSTOMER
(Doctor)
END- CUSTOMER
(Patients)
CUSTOMER
(Stockiest)
CUSTOMER
(C & FA)
11
Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with tumours.
- 21 -
Pharmaceutical marketing is a specialized field where medical representatives form
the backbone of entire marketing effort. Moreover field force should have good
product knowledge of their products over other so as to convince doctors and PULL
the demand for their products i.e. from Doctor to Retailer to Stockiest to C&FA to
company.
one company depot or C&FA usually in each state and authorized stockiest(s) in each
district across the country. Company depot/C&FA send stocks to authorized stockiest
as per the requirement and then retail chemists buy medicines on daily or weekly
basis from authorized stockiest as per demand. Patients visit chemists for buying
medicines either prescribed by a doctor, advertised in the media or through any other
channel. Here patient is end customer and doctor is direct customer for any
pharmaceutical company but from the doctors point of view who acts as a direct
In present scenario companies are focusing more and more on the availability of
companies such as Glaxo, Pfizer, Dabur, FDC, Aventis and Cipla etc. are known for
require more and more field force to remind their products on daily basis to their
direct customer (doctor). Moreover field force should have good knowledge of
product schemes and offers. Also field force is required to have a good rapport with
retailers. Field force also required to ensure good availability of their products to
convince doctors and PUSH their products i.e. from to stockiest to doctor via retailer
and it is shown in fig 1.2. It has also been observed that sometimes there are more
than fifteen or sixteen representatives in a day are meeting with their customer and
- 22 -
requesting for same type of products. Although field force visits are important for an
update on drugs and their usage to the customers. The doctors are, in general,
sneaking away, trying to hide from sales representatives, since there are too many and
they are too pushy and there is very little time, and the representatives probably have
noticed that the reluctant doctors have always less time for short meetings and less
CORE CUSTOMER
(Doctor)
END- CUSTOMER
(Patients)
CORE CUSTOMER
(Retailers)
CORE CUSTOMER
(Stockiest)
CUSTOMER
(C & FA)
The relationship between medical Practitioner and representatives has always been
good and pharmaceutical companies have provided and are still providing the major
economical support for customers' continuous medical education towards the new
- 23 -
fig. 1.3. Something needs to be done to find a solution to this problem that takes into
account the needs of both pharmaceutical companies and their representatives on one
side and physicians on the other, for a better professional interaction so a push system
develops and in this system, doctors and retailers are the core customers and the major
thrust is given to build and retain these customers. Here retailers are also core
customer as most of the times they are substituting the products based on their own
discretion. For retaining and developing customers, the companies normally provide
gifts like sponsorship for various conferences like small gifts & sponsorship to remind
Pharma Company
Company Depot/C&FA
Chemist
Patient Doctor
pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, a complex web of decision-makers
determines the nature of the transaction (prescription) for which direct customer of
product and pays the cost. Use of medical representatives for marketing products to
physicians and to exert some influence over others in the hierarchy of decision makers
1.7 Growth Rate of OTC Medicines: - India currently ranks 11th in the global OTC
market size. It is estimated that it will reach 9th position within five years. Currently
the Indian OTC market (including frank OTC medicines which are advertised and
deemed OTC brands, and ones that are non - advertised or Rx marketed but with large
(euro 1362 million) with an annual growth rate of 10.7 percent at the end of calendar
year 2009.12
Fig.1. 4 Showing the growth of Indian OTC sales in US $ from 2006-07 to 2009-
2010
12
Source Pharma Times 2011
- 25 -
Source: PWC report on Indian pharma 2013
Fig1. 5 showing the segment wise Indian OTC market percentage in 2013
Table 1.1 Showing top ten Indian OTC brands as per their sales and growth13
13
Source : Nicholas Halls DB6 2010
- 26 -
Source: Pharma Outlook 2012
Fig. 1.6 showing the percentage of OTC and prescription drugs used by Indians
pharmaceutical industry; product managers have evolved into brand managers and are
beginning to understand the dynamics of brand equity that lie at the heart of product
management, those tasked with steering brands around the various hurdles and
challenges presented by pharmaceutical markets must use all available learning and
for Over-the-Counter (OTC) drugs would differ from branding strategies for
Prescription drugs. Pharmaceutical products are no longer just drugs, they are brands.
aspiration which build loyalty. In the past and even today, pharmaceutical industry
success formula was simple: discover a drug that was needed, introduce it to the
doctor via a medical representative, and watch the prescriptions get filled. What is
more, the products themselves, secured under a decade of patented protection, were
almost guaranteed to generate large profits. Integrated brand strategies were unheard
awareness among the public to the potential benefits of drugs and medicines. The
marketing process and branding give the public ready knowledge of what the product
is about and thereby induces them to buy that particular product from among many
other similar products in the market. Marketing teams are spending more and more
resources on getting the name of the pharmaceutical product right. However naming a
drug or medicine is not the same as naming an electronic consumer product or FMCG
product careful thought and consideration to all important factors is required for a
name should not be wrong when translated into the local languages.
dispensing of products and services that they expect will satisfy their needs. The
modern day marketing discussion centers around the need for modern marketing to be
consumer oriented and to be concerned with the needs and wishes of the consumer
and thus, studying consumer behaviour is critical, for companies, in getting success of
the products in the market. The consumer is considered as king in today's scenario of
marketing. Gone are the days when manufacturers could have sold anything to the
consumers. Now a days it is consumer whose buying preferences decide what should
be manufactured, in what quantity and what should be the quality of the product more
or less it depends upon the 4ps of marketing mix and 4cs of consumer mix.
- 28 -
Thus a marketer has to take into account various factors while deciding on marketing
a product as consumers have different preferences and some times totally diverse
preferences. So the task of manufacture and marketer becomes onerous and therefore
behaviour is still arduous in the field of pharmaceuticals as the target customer is not
the end user but the influencer i.e. the doctor who generates the prescription.
1.10 Consumer Behavior in Pharma Sector: - Unlike direct 'seller to user sales'
pharma selling is a multiple tier process. Here the consumer/user is not in direct
contact with the salesman. Here the medical practitioner decides on the behalf of
consumed and how long to consume. Hence regular, continuous study of prescribing
consumption and purchase mechanism/behavior is shown in fig 1.7 and the cause of
Medical Practioner
Influence Feed back Feed back Influence
Salesman Consumer
- 29 -
1.11 Consumer Pyramid:
This is a very efficient tool in the hand of the marketer to study consumer behaviour
1. Platinum tier: - It includes heavy users/prescribes who not price sensitive are
2. Gold tier: - They are also heavy users but are more prices sensitive. They ask
for more discounts, free samples etc. and are likely to prescribe several brands.
and prescribing pattern do not merit special treatment from the company.
4. Lead tier: - It consists of customers who actually cost the company money
because they claim more attention then is merited by their spending, tie up
The four tiers described above can be compared with traditional New Product
Adoption Process as described in fig 1.8 along with the percentage. The first tier,
platinum tier can be compaired with the "Innovators" as these customers are trying to
experiment and accept new offering from the companies. The next tier i.e. gold tier
can be compared with "Early adopters and Early Majority" as these customers are
responsible for growth phase of a product life cycle due to substantial use of the
products. The third tier i.e. the iron tier can be compared with "Late Majority" who
have adopted the product very late in the product life cycle and are very cautious
while using the products and the brands. And the last tier i.e. lead tier can be match up
with the "Laggards" who would hardly try the product and actually drains out the
companies resources.
- 30 -
(Source: Consumer Behaviour in Pharmaceutical Marketing)
Fig 1.8 New Product Adoption Process
1. Cultural factors
2. Social factors
3. Personal factors
4. Psychological factors
5. Psychographic factors
persons want and behaviour. Companies often design specialized marketing programs
to serve each subculture. This programme is called diversity marketing. The effect of
culture upon a consumers behaviour is considerable, and culture is a factor which has
the greatest influence (Kotler 2003). Culture creates the foundation of the individuals
values, opinions and behaviour, and is learnt from the other members of society or
from school and institutions that play a significant part of ones environment and
these traits constitute what the consumer values, wants are and therefore do affect the
- 31 -
way consumer acts. Culture also consists of different subcultures that group people
can tailor their marketing mix to match the needs and values of that segment. (Kotler
2003). Consumers are more prone to accept products that are in line with the values,
evolving and the values, social structures, worldviews and other cornerstones of the
culture change through time. Society is divided in social classes which group
members of society that have a similar social status and a comparable behaviour and
these social classes display the hierarchy of society, and are characterized by a set of
factors (Solomon et.al. 2006). A common way to determine a consumers social class
is through the income, occupation and education but these are only factors that
influence how the person is ranked in society. To determine the accurate social class
is not always easy or obvious as the social classes can also change through time when
people climb up the corporate ladder or even change to an occupation of a lower rank.
Also, new family relationships can have a rapid change on someones status and
social class. For Example: The people of Germany pronounce the letter 'V' as 'F' so
while pronouncing word VICKS they call it FIX, rather than VICKS so the marketing
of VICKS in Germany led its name to be changed to suit the German Culture. Indians
are much more oriented towards ayurvedic or herbal medicines. It is in the Indian
culture to use Neem, Tulsi and Haldi etc. So, it's much easier to position non -
the people around. Family is a strong entity that has an influence on buying
behaviour. This includes both the parents, as well as the spouse/husband and kids with
- 32 -
whom the consumer might regularly spend his time. Through the upbringing, parents
teach their children about love, self-esteem, economics, politics and so forth. With
this guidance the influence of the parents does not cease to affect the child even after
the child no longer lives with the parents, and therefore can have an influence on the
consumers behaviour throughout life. The opinion of a spouse and kids can directly
affect and guide the purchasing decision. According to Kotler et.al. (2005) there is
and there are several buying roles that a per-son can take on. The buyer is not always
the user, and thus the purchase may be made for someone else keeping that persons
opinions in mind. The initiator is the one who comes up with the idea of buying a
certain product or service, whereas the influencer is the one whos opinion matter and
is taken into consideration when making a purchasing decision. The final decision
about whether or not to buy, and how, when and what to buy is made by the decider.
i. Reference group
ii. Family
1.11.1.2.1 Reference group: - A reference group consists of all the groups that
have a direct (face to face) or indirect influence on the person's attitudes or behaviour.
Now these reference groups have an opinion leader and they are the persons who offer
advice or information about a specific product or product category and suggest which
brand is best (should be discussed in chapter 4). A marketer should know how to
reach and influence these opinion leaders in order to influence consumer purchase
- 33 -
behaviour. For Example: In pharmaceutical field while marketing a product, it is
important to identify certain Key Opinion Leaders (KOL) who have influence on the
reach. If these KOL's start prescribing the product, many doctors also prescribe the
product.
is a physician whose father is also a physician it is natural that he will have a liking
1.11.1.2.3 Social status and role: - The persons position is defined in terms of
role and status. People choose products that communicate their role and status. A
physician depending on its specialty, experience and social status will go for the drug
that will match his social status. A well known renowned physician will surely go for
the branded drugs rather than generic drugs. Further prescribing pattern will also have
influence depending on the types of patient a doctor treats. For rich patients a doctor
may prescribe costly products while for a poor patient he may not do so. This means
that buying capacity of patient also influences the doctors in their prescription.
according to their personal characteristics and personality type that shape their
consumer behaviour. Research can bring out per- sonality traits that are common for
users of certain products, and thus describe and group consumers that hold specific
behaviour due to these characteristic. Not only are personality and personal traits
affecting the consumers behaviour but also the consumers self-concept. The self-
concept stands for the way the consumer does see himself and the way he evaluates
- 34 -
his own attributes. The self concept is related to the buying behaviour seeing that an
individuals belongings often demonstrate what the person is like or how the person
is? Nevertheless, there are three types of self concepts to take into account when
actual self-concept does display how a person sees himself. In addition the person has
an ideal self-concept which reflects how he would ideally like to see himself.
Additionally there is the self-concept of others which shows how the person thinks
that other people see him. Thus the consumers behaviour can be influenced by any of
these three self-concepts and the consumer can either act according to what he thinks
he is, what he wants to be or according to what he believes that others think he is.
(Kotler et.al 2005). Depending on how positive a consumers actual self concept is the
better is his self-esteem. Advertisement can have great influence and shape the
consumers self-concept and self-esteem as consumers compare them to what they see
in advertisements. Consumers can create a link between the advertised product and
the person displayed in the advertisement, and form their personal image of the
product brand accordingly. This brand image can then influence the decisions, the
consumer makes when choosing between available products (Solomon et.al 2006) and
- 35 -
1.11.1.3.1 Age and stage in life cycle: - The choice of product and brand differs
with age. With the increase in age and experience of physicians, their prescribing
Younger physicians can easily go for new drugs or brands. Whereas the experienced
doctors mostly go for renowned, well established or well known drugs or brands. It
compared to an experienced doctor as they are early adopters. The most important
hospital, general hospital, and private hospital or in a private clinic and accordingly to
perception together. Further a doctor that has learnt in his early stages, For Example:
switching to other brand and companies should focus on developing a self concept
among doctors about a companies products and I had studied during my field research
that the young doctors or interns, residents only prescribe those drugs which are
behaviour and it can be seen as the reason behind ones actions. Motivation is what
drives individuals to attain a certain goal. When the consumer feels a need, there is
tension that the consumer wants to eliminate by satisfying that particular need. If the
drive to reach that goal is strong enough the consumer will possess a motivation that
drives and pushes him towards its realization (Solomon 2006). In accordance to a
- 36 -
theory outlined by Sigmund Freud14, consumers are not fully aware of their true
motivations and are not always able to explain them. Freuds theory points out that
unconscious motive which have their roots in the individuals childhood affect the
consumers choices. The theory also acclaims that consumers may base their product
not acceptable but which the consumer can find symbolised in an acceptable product
through his hierarchic pyramid where consumers are motivated by needs that have a
different classification and that are part of a hierarchy (Kotler et.al., 2005). With the
help of the five senses; taste, smell, sight, touch and hearing, consumers interpret their
consumers create their own perception. Because the perception of a person differs to
one another, the buying behaviour does as well. Consumers are drawn to prod-ucts
not only by their practical function but also by the hedonic features of the product.
The added value that a competitors product has can simply be the emotional value
i. Motivation
ii. Perception
iii. Learning
iv. Beliefs
v. Attitudes
14
Sigmund Freud was an Austrian neurologist, now known as the father of psychoanalysis.
15
Abraham Harold Maslow was an American psychologist who was best known for creating Maslow's
hierarchy of needs.
- 37 -
1.11.1.4.1 Motivation: - A motive is an internal emerging force that orients a
person's activities towards satisfying a need or achieving a goal. The motives may be
rational or non rational. e.g. rational motives for a doctor are price, efficacy, patient
compliance and economy of a medicine while prescribing. Non rational are prestige,
comfort and pleasure. Convenience is the factor which is both rational and non
rational at the same time. Motives often operate at subconscious level, hence are
Meyers Squibb16 to be used as an additional energy supply after exercise and play etc.
as a fitness drink. But it was found that this product was heavily used by drug addicts,
as they were not able to digest a regular meal. So, the motivation to purchase
world. It varies from individual to individual. One doctor might perceive a fast talking
new things based on experience .It is important that doctors learn about new products
and new treatment therapy. Pharmaceutical companies have to make a doctor learn
about new therapy and treatment options by providing relevant literature and
used multi paged advertorials to launch and position their product called Amevine for
16
Bristol - Meyers Squibb is an American pharmaceutical company
- 38 -
their product. Some of the physicians who are techno-savy are also attracted by the
using this method to communicate key marketing messages to physicians. But how
many physicians want to use e-marketing as a learning tool also attributes the success
doctors are not willing to adapt to evolving techniques and so the efforts spent by a
pharmaceutical company would go waste and thus understanding the learning curve
holds about something. People's belief about a product or brand influences their
buying and prescribing decisions. If a physician has belief in the product of one
competitors. Customers begin service experiences with some level of trust, but the
quality of the delivered service determines whether the trust level rises or falls. The
whenever if a customer is unhappy with the service offered by the sales officer of one
of patient has a disease. This is the kind of thinking a marketer needs to have while
marketers believe that positioning occurs not in the market place, but in the
17
e-Detailing use of electronic, interactive media to facilitate sales presentations to physicians
- 39 -
customer's mind. Psychographic studies are mainly based on VALS (Value, Attitudes
Primary Motivation
This is done basically to break the market into meaningful places. Internally
homogenous but externally heterogeneous. For Example: Johnson and Johnson has
Brand Equity has revealed the consumer buying behaviour of the Indian consumer. It
is observed in the survey that majority of Indian consumers does shopping not
because of the product but the purchase of a specific product offers them a chance to
win great gifts. This survey was particularly carried out to find out the demand of
particular brands, analyzing buying behavior, reasons that drive brand loyalty,
preferences for promotion tools, participation mode and prizes. Although this kind of
survey may be hard to find in Indian context for the doctors while prescribing a
product, it can be fairly assumed that while prescribing a particular brand doctors are
likely to prefer those brands that offers them tangible and intangible benefits attached
18
Tylenol is a pain reliever and a fever reducer used to treat many conditions such as headache, muscle
aches etc.
- 40 -
to the brand. Tangible benefits are gifts, samples, participation in CME (Continuing
effectiveness of the product, company image etc. A specific survey of this kind would
1.13 Brand or Generic: - This is the biggest doubt a physician has in his mind when
he has to prescribe a medicine. The choice between a brand and a generic is always a
difficult one. Generally marketers believe that there are two factors which motivate
1. Physicians evaluate the relative efficacy of brand name drugs and their generic
substitutes and prescribe the brand name drugs when they are associated with
therapeutic superiority, because neither they nor their insured patients bear
these drugs increased cost with respect to generic substitutes. If this hypothesis
because such activities may affect the rate at which different drugs are prescribed and
consumed, the total amount spent on health care and what ultimately are the health
rather than generic, drugs may influence consumers and health care professionals
- 41 -
through a variety of channels. For example, advertisements for prescription drugs that
are aimed at consumers may prompt individuals to seek medical treatment they might
request a specific drug that is higher or lower in price or that is more or less effective
than one they had previously used. Promotional efforts aimed at physicians may help
them keep abreast of the latest drug therapies and improve their ability to treat
patients. Those efforts may also lead doctors to prescribe brand-name medications
that are more expensive than alternatives. The way that pharmaceutical manufacturers
promote prescription drugs has changed significantly in the past decade. Until the late
physicians and other health care providers. In the late 1990s, however, drugmakers
advertising. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued draft regulatory
guidance in 1997 (which was finalized two years later) that clarified the agencys
the broadcast media. Since then, the manufacturers of many prescription drugs have
be having an impact on the functioning, cost, and effectiveness of the nations health
care system.
and promotions in much the same way that producers of other goods do to inform
- 42 -
consumers about an advertised products existence and uses and, if alternatives are
available, to persuade consumers that the advertised product is better than competing
products. If successful, advertising can spur demand for the good and therefore boost
its producers sales and profits. Pharmaceutical manufacturers incur most of the costs
of producing a drug during the research and development phases and during the
process of gaining the FDA approval to put the drug on the market. Any additional
sales that advertising generates can be highly profitable because the prices that
manufacturers receive for their products generally exceed the cost to manufacture and
distribute those additional units. Drug companies face a different task in making sales
than do the producers of most consumer goods, however because several separate
actors must be persuaded that a prescription drug merits purchasing. First, a consumer
must perceive that visiting a doctor to seek diagnosis and treatment offers a benefit.
Then, following an examination to diagnose the patients condition, the doctor must
the consumer must fill that prescription for the manufacturer to make a sale. (In many
cases, the individuals insurer can also influence prescription drug purchases by
determining whether or not to include a drug on the formulary of drugs it covers and
by deciding how large a copayment to assign to it. Recognizing that both consumers
manufacturers adopt different marketing strategies for reaching each group. Direct-to-
on outdoor billboards, and increasingly online. Drug companies also promote their
detailing. During those sales calls, the representatives discuss drugs manufactured by
- 43 -
their company that are relevant to the physicians specialties, and they may provide
product samples and reprints of academic literature that discuss their companies
advertisements for their drugs in medical journals. They also sponsor professional
meetings and events, both in person and online, including some that offer physicians
manufacturers use different marketing strategies for the drugs they produce. Many
drugs are promoted solely to physicians, with no attempt to reach consumers. Others
are heavily promoted to consumers and, in varying degrees, to physicians as well. That
different marketing strategies are used for different drugs is not surprising because
there is no consensus among experts about the effects of such strategies on the sales or
prices of prescription drugs. For DTC advertising, studies that have analyzed the
effects for a few specific drugs or classes of drugs have shown mixed results; the
writing and filling of prescriptions increased for some advertised drugs but not for
others. For detailing, some analyses have found positive effects on the number of
prescriptions written for the targeted drug, but others suggest that detailings effects
are unclear.
marketing tools depends on the potential size of the market for a given prescription
drug, the current competition in that market, and the amount of time that has elapsed
since the drug received FDA approval. Manufacturers may also choose to alter their
marketing mix over time, especially as new competitors enter the market, the
manufacturer faces the end of a drugs patent protection and the entry of generic
- 44 -
versions on the market, or the manufacturer introduces new dosage forms, extended
release versions of a drug, or new combination drugs. The balance of this brief focuses
promotional expenditures detailing and DTC advertising. (Sleath et.al., 2001) centered
et.al., 2001) found that older segments have greater faith in doctors and are less
concerned, medical practitioners have a unique and often multiple roles in the
purchasing process of pharmaceutical products. They may be the deciders who make
the buying decision for their patients when prescribing drugs or they may play the role
1.18 The purchasing process: - The consumer evaluates different alternatives that are
available in the market before a consumer makes a choice of a product. During this
process various product attributes to which a consumer is associated with each product
option can be evaluated and its importance determined (Kotler et.al, 2005). The
evaluation of alternatives can either be very extensive at times and rather narrow and
fast at others. Consumers can create different rules that help and facilitate their
decision making, and decreases the amount of information that they will process. The
consumer narrows down the alternatives by the help of his or her personal heuristic
rules. These rules can be of various natures and can represent different assumptions or
mindsets. They can be related to their personal beliefs about products and companies,
if they associate product familiarity with product quality, or how they interpret product
quality based on indications that they obtain from a products visual appearance. Some
consumers tend to judge a book by its cover and it is common to associate high price
with good quality, or to form beliefs of product attributes based on the country of
- 45 -
origin (Solomon et.al., 1999). Companies occasionally use advertisement to connect
their products with feeling of nostalgia, sometimes even sad longing of the past,
because these feelings that arise can influence the consumer to choose a certain
product over another (Solomon et.al., 1999). In some cases the buying behaviour can
turn into a habit where the consumer does not need to put effort into making a
decision. Such a buying habit can stem from a brand loyalty where the consumer feels
strongly and positively about a certain brand and thus makes consciously a choice to
buy a product of that particular brand. A personal connection to the brand can be
developed over time and reinforces the habitual buying behaviour and makes the
consumer less prone to switch to any other brand. For other consumers the habitual
buying behaviour does often come from inertia when the consumer is reluctant to put
effort into the decision making process. As a result the consumer develops behaviour
of buying a product out of habit. Because there is not a strong personal connection to
the product or the brand itself, the consumer is prone to switch to other brand. The
reason for a change of product can be the opportunity to easily buy another product
due to better availability or price (Solomon et.al., 1999). All product purchases are not
planned and the purchasing environment can influence the consumer to buy products
that the consumer was not intended to buy. Consumers sometimes shop by impulse
when they cannot resist buying a product that they all of a sudden feel a strong desire
for. The purchasing can likewise be spontaneous, where the purchase is not planned
upon but the consumer is led to buy the product because of a re-minder in the store,
because the consumer is in hurry or any other reason that incite the consumer to buy
behaviour and therefore sales is not an easy task. The expenditure on advertisement as
- 46 -
money can be spent on advertisement in similar locations to measure variations in the
sales results that each location generates (Kotler et.al., 2005). It is known that many
consumers are unable to recall advertisements that they have been exposed to. This
does raise a concern for the advertising company, since there is reason to assume that
the consumer may not remember the product or the advertised message at point of
purchase. However, the influence on the buying behaviour of a consumer that is able to
recall an advertisement is not positive in every case. Consumers tend to not only
remember advertisements that they like, that raise strong emotions or that
communicate a message that they believe in, but also advertisements that do the
opposite. Those recalled advertisements may have an unwanted effect and makes the
1.19 The Role of the Consumer (Patient):- Physicians have traditionally treated
outcomes. This model is appropriate for diseases that are acute (For Example: a broken
leg) and for patients who believe that the doctor knows best. However, patients now
have access to detailed information about diseases and medications, and are
increasingly inclined to assert their perspectives especially for chronic diseases. This
suggests a multi agent prescription decision and follow up process that includes
1.20 The Prescription Decision: - Given that many diseases are chronic in nature, the
assumption that there exists a single agent (Physician or Consumer) maximizing their
utility seems strong. There exists some research that demonstrates that the tradeoffs
themselves with patient preferences (Fraenkel et.al., 2004). An open area of research
therefore is the development and testing of models that incorporate the utilities of both
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the physician and patient in arriving at the prescription decision. For example: Misra
(2004) allows two types of physicians those who strongly value patient utility and
those who value it less and for two types of patients new and continuing. He then
specifies a model that maximizes utility for the physician-patient combination. The
design of systems that allow patients to have a bigger say in the choice of therapy is
another open area of research. A system like this should be based around a model that
is able to elicit patient preferences for various attributes of a therapy in real time,
quantify the tradeoffs and suggest the most preferred treatment for a patient based on a
(Loden and Schooler, 2000) and increased health-care costs (Johnson and Bootman,
1995). For pharmaceutical firms, lost sales, driven by brand switching and negative
word of mouth that result from perceived product failure, are estimated at $ 1520
billion annually (Beavers, 1999). Poor compliance also leads to lower customer
and Jackson, 1995 & Jackson et.al., 1996). Given this, it is not surprising that the
compliance problem has been called the holy grail of pharmaceutical marketing (Van
Der Pool, 2003). The medical literature has identified hundreds of social, economic,
medical and behavioral factors associated with poor compliance. The important ones
are the severity of the condition, salience of the condition, price and misconceptions
and misguided expectations from the therapy (Fincham and Wertheimer, 1985). A
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very poor predictors of compliance when condition specific effects are controlled for
(Sabate, 2003). In terms of the role of marketing on compliance (Bowman et.al., 2003)
study the determinants of compliance behavior using a unique set of patient diaries.
Using a comprehensive set of covariates and a linear latent class model, they find a
number of compliance drivers that are consistent with the medical literature and
compliance is particularly robust. With respect to advertising, they find that different
market segments of patients have varied responses (sometimes negative) which they
attribute to inflated expectations set by ads. (Wosinska 2005) uses a large patient panel
to test whether the number of missed therapy-days decreases with the level of DTC
for patients taking the competitor brand and a negative effect on compliance for the
advertised brand. While this is surprising, the economic significance of both these
effects is very small. She hypothesizes that the negative effect is due to the advertising
providing information not only about the benefits, but also about the drugs associated
risks.
1.22 The Role of Price: - The increased expenditure for drug promotion will affect the
price of the prescription drugs and this in turn will have an adverse impact on the
expenses on health care. In India same molecules are sold by different pharmaceuticals
under different brand names. To cite an example: there are over hundred and forty
brands of omeprazole19, a proton pump inhibitor20, available in India used for stomach
ulcer. How does a doctor select a brand? What are the factors that influence the
on prescription behavior? There are no recently published studies that have addressed
This study also aims to identify the factors that influence the prescription behavior of
physicians.
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 1 is the Introduction presents the meaning, features and rationale of OTC
various factor that influence consumer purchase behavior and doctor prescription
behavior. The last section consists of the rules and regulations which controls the
Indian Drug Industry in the sales and advertisement of OTC and non OTC drugs
along with the sales and growth figures of the Indian Drug industry in various years.
How ads can influence consumer behavior and doctor prescription behavior.
Chapter 3 consist of Research Methodology presents need and scope of research, pilot
study, Data collection, discussion about questionnaires, Sampling design and brief
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Chapter 4: Data Analysis:-
Chapter 5 includes the summary and conclusions of the study of the impact of
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CHAPTER- 2
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
through interactive internet media on working youth. This research paper analyzes
youth. It also studies the adoption of social media by working youth for collecting
information on Prescription drugs. This study also aims at getting an insight into
correlation between demographic factors and attitude and perception for social media
also demand for gifts and other incentives, they look to every medical representative
companies that do not comply with their demands for sponsorship. Manufacturers,
particular interest was the finding that chemists are major players in this system,
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representative visits in Yemen: a qualitative study. This paper concluded that
physicians are aware that the medical representatives could influence their
receiving free samples, gifts and various kinds of support as a normal practice. The
findings provide insight into possible target areas for educational interventions
concerning pharmaceutical marketing. Such a finding will provide the basis for
policymakers in the public and private health sector in Yemen to develop a suitable
policy and regulations in terms of drug promotion. Support as a normal practice. The
findings provided insight into possible target areas for educational interventions
concerning pharmaceutical marketing. The present qualitative study found that the
majority of the physicians had positive interactions with medical representatives. The
physicians main reasons stated for allowing medical representatives visits are the
social contacts and mutual benefits they will gain from these representatives. They
also emphasized that the meeting with representatives provides educational and
scientific benefits. A few physicians stated that the main reasons behind refusing the
meeting with medical representatives were lack of conviction about the product and
physicians believed that they were under marketing pressure to prescribe certain
Medicines.
market. This study also concluded that there are certain benefits and harm associated
with DTCA. Key benefits of DTCA are preventive care for under diagnosed
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must be balanced against adverse factors like self medication, rising drug costs,
"Social media in health what are the safety concerns for health consumers ".This
paper presented possible harm that social media can inflict on consumers when
misused. Social media has the potential to overcome many of the reading and writing
barriers in health literacy. However, due to the salient nature of social media and the
social influences surrounding its use, consumers and patients are likely to be
subjected to greater risks when unsafe content is consumed than in the pre-social
media world.
and emergence of direct-to consumer advertising: Are emerging markets the next
adverse health and economic outcomes, especially if left unregulated and allowed to
Emerging markets may represent the next logical step for digital DTCA proliferation,
given their untapped market potential and explosive growth, but they are especially at
Companies: An Industry in Need of Guidance " concluded that Delayed guidance has
not stopped many of the worlds largest pharmaceutical companies from establishing
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a presence on Face book. These pharmaceutical companies have been cautious in the
away from user-generated content and specific product information. These companies
do not currently have Face book pages relating to any specific drug therapies. This is
likely to change if the FDA guidance provides companies the assurance that such an
advertising and its influence on consumer buying behavior. This study investigates
the relationship between independent variables which are environmental response and
services and indicate that there exits a weak association between environmental
response with the consumer buying behavior including the attitudinal as well as
Consumer Perspective " .The study aimed to investigate the DTCA encountered by
Australian consumers when searching the Internet for common health- or medicine-
related questions. The results confirmed that Australian consumers were exposed to
10. Montoya Ricardo, Oded Netzer, and Kamel Jedidi (2010) - Another study on
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Profitability". This present a two-stage approach for dynamically allocating detailing
activities.
11. Dhaval Dave and Henry Saffer (2010):- A study to "The impact of direct-to-
the separate effects of broadcast and non-broadcast DTCA on price and demand,
utilizing an extended time series of monthly records for all advertised and non-
which enveloped the shifts in FDA guidelines and the large expansions in DTCA. The
costs of DTCA result from increased drug prices and increased use of more expensive
12. Glinert, L. (2010): A study report on " Prescription drug brand Web sites:
Guidance where none exists " .This study shows that use of the social media is a fast-
growing part of this picture. The credibility that users have been attributing to Internet
health information has been consistently high. Majority of the health-seekers said they
believed all or most online health information, and that they had not seen any wrong
Advertising and Print Media". This study examined which type of pharmaceutical
direct-to consumer (DTC) advertising would be the best marketing strategy for
pharmaceutical companies to use. The main argument was that one-to-one marketing
in the forms of print media and the Internet was the best strategy over mass media
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marketing in the forms of television and radio. In this study the Results showed that
the best method for DTC advertisements is one-to-one marketing through magazines
and understand and retain. If consumers can retain information about a DTC
and hard to control medium brings entirely new sets of solutions and/or problems to
pharmaceuticals marketers. The nature of the product, legal regulations and ethical
creativity and care of the target audience, message content and choice of appropriate
15. Janet Hoek (2008):- Another study on " Ethical and practical implications of
marketing and discusses the evolution, ethics and effects of advertising that promotes
controversial element of healthcare marketing, DTC merits special attention since its
use is both restricted and under review, its regulation takes widely varying forms and
paper shows that interpersonal communication from family and friends is crucial in
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communication can be instrumental as a substitute of pharmacists if it is deemed
trustworthy. It would be beneficial for companies to identify the structure and strength
Regulated Environment. Nielsen Online ".The study indicates the roles of consumers
and corporations have changed significantly since the rise of the Internet. YouTube
give consumers platform to voice opinions about products and brands. Consumers
choose social media sites including discussion boards, blogs and online groups. The
anonymity of the Internet affords a comfort level that encourages individuals to share
details about their symptoms, treatment history and experiences with their doctors, the
efficacy and side effects of medication, the impact of their condition on their own
lives and more. At the same time, the ubiquity of the internet can provide a
medications. The Result of this study indicated that participants frequently encounter
DTC ads and some report information seeking as a result. Participants reported
safety and legal concerns. DTC ads influence interactions between doctors and their
DTC ads is the explosion in the use of the Internet. Internet provides opportunity to
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19. Saurabh Kumar Saxena:- This article on "A review of marketing strategies
marketing strategies when a pharma company shift Acute base to Chronic therapy
base. This research paper also gives an insight about shift in supply chain process and
marketing strategies.
20. Manchanda, P. and Honka, E (2005): A study on the effects and role of
detailing and detailers and concluded that There is also strong evidence that detailing
The results also demonstrate that while physicians claim to tolerate it as a necessary
evil, it evidently has an impact on prescription behavior via both a subjective and an
objective path. They are therefore heavily invested in this mode of promotion.
of Prescription Drugs. This report examines legislative concerns and options on risk
concerns about DTC advertising; and examines options for new statutory authority on
DTC advertising.
22. Anantharaman Radhika, Parthan Anju and Mary Shepherd (2005):- A study
report on A Brands Advertising and Promotion Allocation Strategy: The Role of the
Share ". A comprehensive study found a weak relationship between DTCA and price
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for 20 heavily-advertised drugs, and concluded that DTCA costs did not drive price
increases. It has also been argued that some new drugs are more expensive, as
companies endeavor to recover high R&D investments. However, newer drugs are
23. Kravitz, Richard L., Ronald M. Epstein, Mitchell D. Feldman, Carol E. Franz,
both patients with conditions that are undertreated, and conditions for which drugs are
will tend to dominate when the target condition is serious and the treatment is very
safe, effective, and inexpensive. Harms are most likely to emerge when the target
24. Frank Windmeijer, Eric de Laat, Rudy Douven, and Esther Mot (2004):- A
society as a means of providing information, but it can also be harmful in the sense
market share, even when cheaper, therapeutically equivalent drugs are available and
concluded that conclude that, on average, GP drug price sensitivity is small, but
25. Pioch, E.A. and Schmidt, R.A. (2004) :- A study report on " Community
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.They found that pharmacists have simultaneous roles; they have commercial interest
in selling and also providingimpartial advice. So, a conflict may exist between
commercial roles and professional duties. The majority of the consumers believed that
26. Kaphingst, K.A., Dejong, W., Rudd, R.E., and Daltroy, L. H. (2004): A study
advertisements" concluded that most DTCA gave consumers more time to absorb
facts about benefits than risks, which could have implications for the fair balance
requirement. Some risk statements in the ads lacked important contextual information.
DTCA uses both medical and lay terms to convey medical ideas, suggesting that
information was given only in text, casting doubt on whether the advertisements were
advertisements included at least one statement that directed consumers to seek more
information.
27. Weissman, J.S., Blumenthal, D., Silk, A.J., Newman, M., Zapert, K., Leitman,
show a mixed picture. Some physicians appreciate DTCA for increasing patients
awareness, encouraging patients to seek medical advice for conditions that might
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determination over the drug life cycle. In this model the pharmaceutical company
Bhattacharya and Vogt (2003) show that the dynamic profit maximizing strategy for
the firm is to initially employ a relatively high level of promotion and to set a
relatively low price. These levels will not only increase current quantity demanded,
but also raise future demand since high promotion and low prices increase the
physicians and the consumers stock of knowledge about the drug. Since knowledge is
costly to acquire, physicians prescribing patterns can be sticky, and consumer use
may also be sticky especially for chronic conditions, a high level of current demand
29. Murray, E., L, Bernard., Pollack, L., Donelan, K., Lee, K.,(2003):- A study on
and the doctor-patient relationship found that found that 48% of patients believe
DTCA promotes unnecessary visits to doctors offices and 38% believe the ads cause
patients to take up more of the doctors time. It is difficult to determine whether this
increase in time is beneficial for the patient to convey new concerns to their
physician, or whether physicians are merely correcting the false expectations created
by the emotional appeals in the advertisements. Most likely, the increased time is
30. Mintzes, B., Barer, L., Morris, Richard L., Kravitz, K Bassett, Joel L.,
Arminee K., Robert G. Evans, Richard P. and Stephen A. Marion., (2003) How Does
physicians believed patients who requested a drug were knowledgeable about the
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therapy. This perception of knowledge may be translated to the perception of patient
evidence shows that many patients who request drugs based solely on DTC
advertisements have not been informed about the true efficacy of the drug, and may
have misunderstood the side effects of the medication. Therefore, physicians may be
mistaken in their perception that the patient is well informed, leading to questionable
prescriptions as both the patient and physician believe that the other is more informed.
Advertising of Prescription Drugs: The Evidence Says No. This research examine
Most new drugs offer little if any therapeutic advantage over existing products.
consumers follows changing social and economic trends which recognize patient
consumer Advertising of Prescription Drugs .This study examines that DTC ads
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appear to provide valuable information (including risk information), induce
not previously discussed, and generate significant positive externalities including the
possibility of improved patient compliance with drug therapy. The author suggests
that a further relaxation of FDA rules would accelerate the dissemination of valuable
information, with favorable consequences for drug development and consumer health.
34. Sengupta S. (2002):- The study report on "Prescription Drug Advertising: The
variables were related to DTC ad exposure and recall rate. Female consumers showed
significantly higher exposure rates than males, and females were more likely to recall
income and ad exposure and recall of the ads. Households with higher incomes were
more likely to be exposed to DTC ads and to recall brands of the advertised drugs.
The relationship between age of the respondent and ad exposure was not significant.
that enables the choices and will enhance the benefits. If legislators and health policy
experts want to ensure that more drugs are available at lower prices, they should
36. Irfan Sharfoddin Inamdar and Dr. Malhar Jayant Kolhatkar (2001): This study
influence their prescription behavior". This study focuses on finding the need of
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customer and giving a focused approach to the marketing team so that efforts will be
directed at most important factors and concluded that consumer looks for basic
products like packaging, brand names and other augmented product benefit however
in case of medicinal product doctors have given more importance to the core product
benefit.
37. Eichner, R. and Maronick, T.J. (2001) A study report on "A review of direct-
to-consumer (DTC) advertising and sales of prescription drugs: does DTC advertising
increase sales and market share? found that consumers are increasingly aware of
DTCA, and are often times requesting medications seen in advertisements. This kind
of activity has raised some concern amongst physicians who want to ensure that
38. Wilkes, M.S., Bell, R.A. and Kravitz, R.L. (2000):- A study on Direct to-
recent survey that more than one-third of respondents reported asking their doctors for
information about a drug they had seen or heard advertised, and nearly one-quarter
asked for the drug itself. Of these, three-quarters reported that their doctors provided
Distributors as Moderated by Relative Market Share. This study reveals that the
terms of discrete relationship among them. Brand with low relative market share may
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experience greater opportunity for advertising in relational exchange and pressure for
40. Hoffman J.R and Wilkes M.S (1999) - A study report on Direct to consumer
advertising of prescription drugs: an idea whose time should not come. They express
prescribe an advertised drug, or results in poor practice if the doctor capitulates and
Ethical Pharmaceutical Industry: The case of Hypertensive Drugs. Rizzo, studies the
drugs. He finds that increased detailing efforts reduce the price elasticity. This
reduction may consequently result in higher prices, though Rizzo does not examine
the direct link between detailing and price. The study is based on pooled annual data
from 1988 to 1993, which predates the DTCA policy shift, and only considers direct
promotion to physicians.
Advertisements are recalled at the highest rate by patients suffering from allergies,
advertised through DTCA. Despite the fact that consumers ages 53 to 89 are most
likely to take a medication for one of these conditions, this age groups is the least
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43. Peyrot, M., Alperstein, N. M., Doren, D. V. and Poli, L. G. (1998):- A study
explain consumer prescription drug knowledge and drug brand requesting behavior.
They included four factors that influence consumer knowledge and drug request
behavior: demographic factors such as age, gender, race, and socio-economic status,
media exposure, attitudes toward DTC prescription drug advertising, and awareness
of prescription drug advertising. The model indicates that demographic factors such as
gender, income, education, and race/ethnicity significantly affect knowledge and drug
knowledge and leads to drug requests. Attitudes toward drug advertising affect
behavioral outcomes, but the research results showed a somewhat confusing pattern.
People believing that advertising educates consumers tended to have greater drug
knowledge. They also found that negative attitudes toward drug advertising were
44. Hopper, J.A., Speece, M.W. and Musial, J.L. (1997):- A study report on
with sales representatives. They surveyed residents and faculty before and after the
intervention. Before the intervention, physicians slightly agreed that contact with
detailers was not beneficial, but strongly disagreed that it might influence their
prescribing in negative ways. However, physicians were rather neutral about whether
negatives ways.
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45. Lynda M. Maddox (1997):- A study report on The use of pharmaceutical
Web sites for prescription drug information and product requests" found that while
patients are quite comfortable discussing a prescription drug that is advertised, those
exposed to DTCA may be less likely to initiate discussion and are unsure whether or
46. Caudill, T.S., Johnson, M.S., Rich, E.C. and McKinney, W.P. (1996):- A
Prescribing" surveyed physicians about their attitudes toward the educational value
that sales representatives provided useful and accurate information about newly and
already established drugs, but only slightly agreed that they performed an important
47. Berndt, E., Bui, L., Reiley, D., Urban, G., (1995):- A study report on
Information, Marketing and Pricing in the US Antiulcer Drug Market. This study
considers the role of detailing, medical journal advertisements and DTCA in the
market for anti-ulcer drugs prior to the shift in FDA guidelines. Thus, the DTCA
examined in this study was very limited and confined only to print media. They find
that the promotion stock increases demand for anti-ulcer drugs, with the strongest
effect found for detailing and the smallest effect found for DTCA. This pattern of
results, suggesting that detailing may be more effective in raising sales than DTCA.
48. Williams, J.R. and Hensel, P.J. (1995):- A study report on "Direct-to-
the path from DTC ad exposure to purchase. They found that educational level and
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health status were negatively related to attitudes towards DTC advertising and in turn,
attitudes toward DTC advertising were significantly related to the intention to seek
more information from a friend and a pharmacist. They did not find a significant path
from exposure to visiting with a doctor, who is considered the most important
information source.
49. Basara, L.R (1994):- A study report on " Practical considerations when
medications" proposed several reasons for the increase including, increasing ability
through the repetition of key marketing messages. and the use of advertising as a
differentiation strategy.
50. Walker G. (1993):- A study report on" Code of practice for the pharmaceutical
Industry "This report examines that in India now the daily visit of the doctors should
be twelve and four visit to each doctor in a month. Drug samples can only be provided
to a doctor in response to a signed request and should not exceed four days' treatment
for a single patient. In Sweden, the representatives must meet a group of doctors after
obtaining an appointment from the head of the department. On an average only two
such meetings per year are permitted. The promotional material is screened by the
head of the department and the presentation by representative allowed, only it the
51. Lagace, Rosemary R., Dahlstrom, Robert and Gassenheimer, Jule (1991):- A
The Pharmaceutical Industry showed that the salesperson's ethical behavior and
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expertise positively affected physician attitudes (especially trust and satisfaction). It
also found that the frequency of visits did not significantly affect satisfaction.
52. McKinney, W.P., Schiedermayer, D.l., Lurie, N., Simpson, D.E., Goodman,
J.L., Rich, E.C. (1990):- A study report on Attitudes of Internal Medicine Faculty
Representatives examined physicians' attitudes toward detailing and its potential for
ethical compromise. They found that physicians had somewhat negative attitudes
toward the educational and informational value of detailing activities, but also
53. Perri, M.W. and Dickson, M. (1988) :- In the study "Consumer Reaction to a
relationship between DTC ad exposure and patient behavior measured in the form of
factors that might influence the relationship, such as involvement and medical
conditions. They conducted research through observation and a survey with patients
who visited doctors after exposure to a direct mail campaign. Even though they found
54. Proctor, R. and M.A. Stone. (1982):-A study report on marketing research,
noted that the principal aim of consumer behavior analysis is to explain why
consumers act in particular ways under certain circumstances. It tries to determine the
factors that influence consumer behavior, especially the economic, social and
psychological aspects that can indicate the most favored marketing mix that
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direction that consumer behavior is likely to make and to give preferred trends in
Consumer behaviors analysis views the consumer as another variable in the marketing
sequence, a variable that cannot be-controlled and that will interpret the product or
service not only in terms of the physical characteristics, but in the context of this
image according to the social and psychological makeup of that individual consumer
55. Lumpkin, J.R. and Greenberg, B.A. (1982):- A study report on Apparel-
shopping patterns of the elderly consumer " found that the elderly rated every
information source, i.e., newspaper, magazines, radio, TV, etc. lower in importance
than their younger counterparts. More adept consumers can also deviate from
56. Nies, E.A. (1982):- A study report on " Drug Information Sources: For
Academic and public Libraries explain that Generally, OTC drugs are available
without prescription and in most cases are advertised directly to the public.
Consumers are becoming familiar with OTC drugs, due to extensive advertising by
companies. The trend towards self medication is likely to grow towards these
products.
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CHAPTER- 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1- Need for this research: The broad areas in which research is needed were
6. How to make the right pharmaceutical advertisement for different age group,
male, female, lower income, middle income and higher middle income people?
8. What should be the suitable medium for advertisement to get the consumer and
Doctors attention?
9. Up to what extent celebrities play a major role in placing the OTC drugs among
10. How electronic media effects on consumer purchase behavior among the youth.
11. How promotional activities, other facilities and gift items alters the prescription
behavior of doctors.
12. How various sources like medical representative, clinical papers impact on
doctors?
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13. What is the importance of ethical issues while prescribing the drugs?
3.2- Scope of the research:-Advertising plays an important role to aware the general
public about the product or services. The drug market is highly competitive, and
aware about the public, advertisement is very effective to tell about the product or
services. As far as Uttar Pradesh State is concern it is the largest state in terms of
population and growing very fast. If make it a country then it may be sixth largest
area or plane area in any form whether it may be print, electronic or word of mouth
etc. People In Uttar Pradesh speaks different languages, have different cultures and
various other practices thats why every type of advertisement is very effective
because of reach ability of the news paper, magazines, television sets and internet
facilities. As far as the advertiser concern, it is the duty of the advertiser to make
effective advertisement. In Uttar Pradesh, every kind of people is living i.e. Low
income, Middle income and higher income people. Here every brand is available
3.3-Desk Research:- This was the first step of the research process. The three thrust
3- The market for OTC Drugs like painkillers, ointments, coughs syrups etc.
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The details of review of literature on advertising and its impact on consumer behavior
have already been given in the previous chapter. The next chapter will contain details
3.4- Pilot Study: - It was decided to conduct a pilot study for the following reasons.
and its validity) this will be used in the main empirical research.
3- To gain familiarity with the field work and the problems that can occur at different
At the beginning of the pilot study, a list of tentative hypothesis and information
Sampling for the pilot study: - Lucknow District was given as the geographic scope
Data Collection for the Pilot Study:- 50 response sheets (of doctor and consumer
each) were filled from the Lucknow District. The distribution of urban responses was
more or less in proportion to the size of street. The unit for which data was collected
Data analysis for the pilot study:- An analysis was to be done on the computer with
the help of SPSS software. The data captured in the response sheet was given numeric
codes and entered on to coding sheets, to facilities data entry on C.O data was
checked and corrected before analysis could begin. The main emphasis was on the
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analysis needed for testing the validity of the measurement. Other than that, one way
frequencies of the important variables were obtained and only the major hypothesis
were tested. After analyzing the data we found some problems undertaking the
Main Empirical Research: - Work done for the main empirical research is being
Occupation, Family Income and Marital status of the of the consumers and
practice place. This study identifies and evaluates the Sales promotions activities
preferences towards the particular companies drugs affect the sales of the companies.
confronting with the promotion activities adopted by the companies have also been
examined. Basically this research is describing the population surveyed and its
3.6-Data collection method: In this research data collected from primary source and
as well as secondary source. The secondary data collected from Governing Bodies,
magazines, news papers, journals and other published material. Internet also used for
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In the questionnaires three kinds of scaling used namely Nominal and Ordinal scale &
Interval to know the respondents demographic profile and attitudes towards the
advertisement.
3.7-Questionnaires: - Set the work done up to this time provide valuable inputs to
designing both the questionnaires. They were prepared in English. The coding plane
of the responses was decided before hand. The structures of the data file in which the
data was to be entered, was also decided before hand. Hence, it was possible to
incorporate into the questionnaires the no. of the field in which the data was to be
entered. This made the subsequent steps of data collection and data entry earlier. In
this research SPPS software used for analysis and interpretation of the hypothesis.
There are two types of questionnaire were prepared which are as:-
1. An introductory paragraph.
5. Some information asked to know about the advertisement media used for common
OTC medicines (television, news paper, friends and relative) (Q5 to Q6).
6. In this section some questions were asked to know the impact of the OTC
7. In this portion questions were asked about the attention paid by the consumer and
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8. Asking buyer buying behavior and influencing factor in selecting the medicines
advertisement (Q14).
1. An introductory paragraph.
(Q1d to Q1h).
(Q2a to 2g ).
(Q3a to Q3g).
11. To know the information about brand medicine, generic medicine, importance
3.8 Study Variables:- Variables measured in this study are the cumulative scores for
consumer and doctors perceptions of both OTC drug advertising & prescription drug
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advertising concerning their attitudes, beliefs about the effects of drug advertising and
the impact of drug advertising on consumer and doctor, on the selection of drug
products by the patients and . The scores were obtained using a series of survey
Other variables included the demographic factors such as gender, practice hour,
factors such as where and how often are OTC drug advertisements seen by the
volume.
3.9 Sample Selection: - The study population consists of doctors & consumers
SAMPLING DESIGN: - Target populations for the collection of data are residential
doctors and some patient in the hospitals during the period of collection of data. The
period for the collection data is different for various hospitals. The research has spent
on average three days at the single hospital in the process of collecting data from
has been used by us for the collection of data on the basis of Age, Gender, Education,
Occupation, Marital status, Family monthly income for consumers and qualification,
position hold by respondent, no. of practice hours, years of practice place of practice,
1. Universe: - The first step in developing any sample design is clearly defining the
divided on the basis of different location Divisional head quarter of Uttar Pradesh
such as, Lucknow, Allahabad and Kanpur districts. Again each divisional
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headquarter stratifies on the basis of different location to collect the information. The
selecting sample. In this research, sample unit stratified on the basis different age
group, male and female, different education level, occupation, family monthly
income, and marital status of the respondents for consumers and qualification,
position hold by respondent, no.of practice hours, years of practice place of practice,
o.p.d frequency etc. for doctors. The sample had drawn from the districts of 3
Divisional head quarter namely Lucknow, Allahabad and Kanpur.The reason behind
b) These district having medical college and due to this high number of patients came
3. Size of sample: - This refers to the number of items to be selected from the
universe to constitute a sample. The total no. of sample size was 200 for doctor and
by pharmaceutical companies. The populations which are included in the study are
basically residing in those regions. So, researchers have used the convenience
random sampling which was performed purposefully. Researchers have collected the
data only from those people, who are either doctor in the hospital or the patient in the
3.10 Survey Instrument: - The instrument used for the study is a questionnaire,
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responses from the target sample group of consumer & doctors about the impact of
questions.
Q.1a to 1g was used to know the demographic variables of the respondents such Age,
Gender, Education, Occupation, Marital Status, and Monthly family incomes. Q.2 to
4 was asked to know about advertisement, medium of advertisement and how the
advertisement more affective for common use medicines (OTC).Q.6 was used to
know by which suggestion consumer will purchase common use medicines Q.7 was
used to know the long lasting effect of advertisement. Q.8 was used to know the
extent of advertising of various pharmaceutical products create the need for the
Product in consumer mind. Q.9 was used to know about new advertisement of
pharmaceutical how much consumer pay attention. Q.10 was used to know about
product attribute observe in advertisement. Q.11 was used to know influencing factor
in selecting medicine for common diseases Q.12 was used to know the extent of
medicines. Q.13. was used to know the rely on while making a purchase decision
Q.14. was used to know the impact of attributes like Theme of Advertisement, Visual
Q.1a to 1h was used to know the demographic variables of the respondents such Age,
Gender, Education, Occupation, Marital Status, and Monthly family incomes. Q.2a to
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Television, internet etc. Q.3a to 3g was used to know the reliability of information
medical journals, clinical papers, Television, internet etc Q.4 to 4b was used to know
provided by MRs Q.5a to 5f was used to know the importance of promotional items
such as Frees samples, Trips to seminar, lunch and dinner for staff and family. Q.6 is
about prohibiting bodies that influence promotional activities. Q.7a to 7g was used to
know the effectiveness of information provided through different media such as MRs,
Medical Journals, clinical papers, electronic media etc. Q.8 to 13 was used to know
issues and advertising agency.Q.14a to 14g was used to know the importance of
promotional channels used by companies and their long lasting effect on the mind
Firstly used Nominal scale especially Dichotomous and Multiple choice questions to
categorize the Age, Gender, Education, Occupation, Family monthly income, marital
status of the respondents. Second kind of scaling was very important to know the
3.11 Data collection:- In this section primary data collected through personal
interview. The fieldwork carried out in divisional Head Quarter namely Lucknow,
Allahabad and Kanpur. The whole Lucknow, Allahabad and Kanpur district stratified
on the basis of area sampling. In this regards the territory divided into different
location such as Colony, Mohalla, hospitals, clinics and some public place selected
to collect the data. Two different booklets of questionnaires were prepared one for
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consumer and one for doctor which were given to the respondents and told to him
tick the answer of each question. For the purpose of study, questionnaires were got
filled in each districts of selected divisions, giving total of 200 questionnaires for
doctors, out of these 150 questionnaires were finally retained for analysis while 50
questionnaires were rejected as they were incomplete. Similarly giving total of 400
questionnaires for consumers, out of these 329 questionnaires were finally retained
3.12 Data analysis:- After fieldwork done the raw data converted into coding. The
coded data fill in the SPSS sheet. In this research seven demographical variables for
consumer and three demographical variables for doctors were taken to find out
respondents in a particular categories such the total no. of respondents fall in different
were converted into tabulation. Both the demographical variables compare with the
other question relating to attitude of the respondents to find out the cross-tabulation.
The cross-tabulation showed the relationship of one variable to another. Before data
could be analyzed it was checked thoroughly not only was the print out of the data file
checked manually, range cheeks and logical checks were also applied on the data.
Data was analyzed with the help of SPSS package. The test of hypothesis that was
used throughout the Chi -square test. Through the Chi-square test Null-Hypothesis
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Ei =The expected no. of cases in the ith.
For a 2 x2 contingency of table the modified formula of Chi -Square was used.
[N (AD-BC)-N\2] x [N (AD-BC)-N\2]
Whenever the result was significant and the contingency table was bigger then 2x2
the difference between the groups, on the measured variable, was located by
partitioning the contingency table into 2x2 sub tables and analyzing each of them. The
table may be partitioned into as many 2x2 sub tables as there are degree of freedom in
the original table. The method of constructing the tables in such that each table is
collapsed to form the next table. The two rows of the preceding table are combined to
form the first row of the succeeding table and if need be, the two columns of the
preceding table are combined to from the first columns of succeeding table. It is the
discretion to the research to arrange/rearrange the original table so that the collapsing
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combining of categories makes sense. The row and column totals of these sub tables
are the row and columns totals of the entire sample, not just of the particular sub table.
This reflects the fact that these are sub tables obtained from a larger sample. The
formula for x2 of these sub tables also reflects this fact. The Null- Hypothesis checked
with 5% significant level. Before calculating the Null- Hypothesis degree of freedom
found from the table. With the help of SPSS package it automatically calculated. The
chi-square value compare with Critical value. In this case when calculated value less
than the critical value then Null hypothesis accept otherwise reject.
1. Descriptive Statistics: - Researcher has used the descriptive techniques for the
profiling of data. Profiling of the data is essential for the scientific study and for
ensuring that we have all relevant data for making completed comparison and
analysis.
2. Factor Analysis: - However, although factor analysis is probably most famous for
dimensions of personality. Many of the other researchers use this technique for the
purpose of knowing which are the primarily factors which affect the particular
activity. So the factor analysis technique is used by us to find the prominent factors
which are affecting the behavior of the doctors for the recommendation of particular
brand of medicine and also try to find the factors which influence patient to buy the
particular medicine which are coming under the category of OTC drugs.
3. ANOVA Test:- ANOVA is applied on the data to check whether difference exists
4. Data analysis Software: SPSS software 20 is used for the analysis of the data
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3.14 Objective of the Study: Because the research indicates that billions of dollars
are wasted on crafting drug advertisements. The research objective is to measure the
prescribing behavior in one side and also wanted to measure the effect of
and by the end of the thesis, we should be able to identify which promotional tools are
more effective & influencing physicians prescribing behavior and consumers buying
behavior. The objective of the research can be framed in points given below:
advertisement.
medicines (OTC).
pharmaceutical advertisement.
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9. To study the extent of advertising influenced the consumer for purchasing of
medicines.
behavior.
highly probable in the light of established facts. So for the study of factors influencing
doctors prescribing behavior and consumers buying behavior certain hypothesis are
Ho2: Doctors advice do not creates significant impact on consumer persuasion to buy
a particular drug.
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Ho7: Various pharmaceutical medium of advertisement do not creates significant
pharmaceutical advertisement.
sample represents residents physicians and visiting patient in the respective hospitals.
Respondents are answering the questionnaire truthfully and honestly. This study
covering about one hundred physicians executed to find out the impact of various
major role in the decision process of the physician to prescribe drugs than even
scientific sources.
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CHAPTER- 4
For marketers and consumers the advertisements play a very vital role. The study of
cognitive effect of advertisements can help both the marketers and the regulating
advertisements may change the perceptions of the consumers. On the other hand, the
regulating authorities may prevent deception against consumers with this kind of
understanding. It must be understood by the marketers that supply of right quality and
responsibility of an enterprise toward its customers. The enterprise must take proper
precaution against adulteration, poor quality, lack of desired service and courtesy to
customers thus misleading and dishonest advertising, and so on. They must also have
the right of information about the product, the company and other matters having a
bearing on their purchasing decision. Advertisers often rely on strong subjective and
above, the understanding, how consumers select and organize information, can be
used to create marketing communications that have a better chance of being attended
therefore, needs to know in advance how consumers are likely to process and interpret
a message.
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The differences in attitude and level of involvement for a particular product may raise
decision making as to non-durable goods. The word demography means related to the
human population. Market demographics refer to all the data that is collected for the
usually used to make policy decisions and for research of the market conditions.
and marital status, are all typical examples of demographics that are used in surveys.
When designing a survey, the research needs to assess who to survey and how to
breakdown overall survey response data into meaningful groups of respondents. Both
structure is determined through the analysis of large data collections where the
conclusions drawn are specific to an underlying set of initiatives The main objective
also to get a clear idea of the needs and wants of the different segments in the society.
On the basis of this information organizations can build a marketing strategy. The
major types of demography that is included in marketing is the age of the targeted
group, the gender ratio, the level of the income that exists and the race and the ethnic
The targeted audiences for a product or service need to be potential clicks-to-sale
decisions are influenced by their demographic characteristics such as age, sex, marital
status, family size, education, and their professional status. Since, these characteristics
are easily quantifiable, they enable marketer to describe accurately and specifically
Consumer needs and wants change with age. Age and life-cycle have potential impact
on the consumer buying behavior. It is obvious that the consumers change the
purchase of goods and services with the passage of time. Researchers have found age
into consideration, an attempt was made to classify the respondents on the basis of
age. Respondents included in the sample were classified into five age groups which
include age group 18-28 years, 29-39 years, 40-50 years, 51-61 years and > 61 years.
4.1.1
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Fig 4.1:- Age - wise classification of Respondents
The analysis of data indicates that 29.2% of the respondents are in the age group of
18-28 years, 39.2% of the respondents are in the age group of 29-39 years, 14% of
the respondents are in the age group of 40-50 years, 13.7% of the respondents are in
the age group of 51-61 years and remaining 4% are in the age group of more than 61
years.The analysis clearly projects that the sample is dominated by those respondents
The family has been the focus of most marketing efforts and for many products and
services, the household continues to be the relevant consuming unit. Family life-cycle
consists of different stages such young singles, married couples, unmarried couples
etc which help marketers to develop appropriate products for each stage For
Keeping this into consideration, an attempt was made to classify the respondent on the
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basis of their marital status. The marital status-wise classified categories include
married, unmarried, widow & separated. The results are presented in table no. 4.1.2
The analysis elaborates that the sample includes 63.2% married respondents, 35.9%
This signifies that the sample is dominated by the respondents of married category.
A family is defined as a group consisting of two parents and their children living
housing unit, whether related or unrelated. In recent years, there have been two
important changes in the family and the marital status. The first one is the sharp
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increase of single person household and second is the decline in average household.
Keeping this into consideration, an attempt was made to classify the respondents on
the basis of family type. The family type classified categories included in respondents
are joint family and nuclear family .The results are shown in table no. 4.1.3
The analysis suggest that 77.2% respondents belong to joint families and 22.8%
respondents belong to nuclear family .This analysis clearly highlights that sample is
Income of the consumers has long been an important variable for distinguishing
market segments. Income simply indicates the ability or inability of the consumer to
pay for a product, while the actual choice may be based on personal life style, taste
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and values. Keeping this into consideration, an attempt was made to classify
respondents on the basis of their income. For this purpose, the respondents were
classified into five categories: one who has annually income less than Rs.1.5 lacs.
Others categories of respondents include those with annual income Rs.1.5 lacs- 3.0
lacs, 3.0 lacs - 5.0 lacs, 5.0 lacs-7.0 lacs and more than 7.0 lacs.The results are shown
in Table no.4.1.4
The analysis projects that the sample includes 2.43%, 17.93%, 36.47%, 31.91% and
income upto Rs.1.5 lacs,1.5 lacs-3.0 lacs, 3.0 lacs-5.0 lacs,5.0 lacs-7.0 lacs and more
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than 7.0 lacs and above.This signifies that the sample is dominated by those
respondents who are having the annual income between 3.0 lacs-5.0 lacs.
are closely associated with their level of education. For identifying this, the
respondents included in the sample were classified on the basis of their education
level. The education level-wise classified categories include the respondents who are
undergraduates, graduates and post graduates and above. The information in this
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The analysis of data suggests that 23.10% respondent fall in the undergraduate
and 47.11% of the respondents are qualified up to post graduation and above. The
analysis clearly highlights that the sample is dominated by those respondents who
decision. An individuals nature of job has a direct influence on the products and
variables which influence the consumption pattern of consumer. For making the
appropriate marketing strategy and positioning the product in a better and effective
way it is necessary to identify the occupational group that has average interest in their
product and services. Keeping this into consideration, an attempt was made to classify
the respondent on the basis of their occupation. For this purpose, the occupation-wise
in table no.4.1.6
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Fig 4.6:- Occupation -wise classification of Respondent
The analysis indicates that the sample is dominated by the respondents of professional
category.
about their product/services to the consumer or ultimate users. Thus, it becomes more
important to assess whether the advertisement is able to attract the first attention
becomes very crucial in order to study the impact of advertising on the brand
sensitive to ensure that the advertising campaigns are properly conceived to avoid
- 97 -
adverse effects on a firms performance. It also checked in order to meet the
following objectives:
a. For examining the awareness,ability to perceive and ability to learn the consequences
consumers towards advertisement. The personal values and goals of consumers are
linked with their buying intention and actions. Thus, it becomes crucial to highlight
properly highlighted. This view point became one of the objectives for proposed
impact of advertisement on the target consumers, it is necessary that we know how far
they have access to various media of advertisements, their likeness for advertisement,
advertisement etc. An attempt has been made in the present study to assess the
usually provides information about the advertising firm, its product qualities, place of
were requested to indicate their awareness about advertisement. The relevant data and
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Table No. 4.2.1:- Advertisement awareness among respondents
The study indicates that 90.27% respondent are aware about advertisement and 9.73%
medium by which consumer get the attention. To know about attention among
consumer with reference to various advertisement media an attempt has been made.
The relevant data and its analysis are given below in table no. 4.2.2
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Table No. 4.2.2:- Advertisement medium and attention of respondents
The study indicates that more than half (56.23%) respondent paid attention on
attempt was also made to assess the degree of relationship of Demographic variables
like family size, Educational qualification, Occupation, Marital Status and age of
respondents with advertisement and consumer attention.For this purpose the data was
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processed to establish the relationship of factors which are responsible for
4.2.2.1 Association between family type and medium of advertisement get the
customer attention toward the different medium of advertisement with family type of
Family type * Which medium of Advertisement get your Attention Cross tabulation
Which medium of Advertisement get your
Attention
Word to
Print Radio Television Mouth Total
Family Nuclear Count 35 32 150 37 254
type Expected 36.3 33.2 142.8 41.7 254.0
Count
% within 13.8% 12.6% 59.1% 14.6% 100.0%
Family size
Joint Count 12 11 35 17 75
Expected 10.7 9.8 42.2 12.3 75.0
Count
% within 16.0% 14.7% 46.7% 22.7% 100.0%
Family size
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The analysis of data in the above table indicates that among the nuclear family 150
respondents are in the opinion that television medium of advertisement get more
impact to consumer of Joint family. Similarly 12, 11 & 17 respondents give their
opinion regarding print, Radio & Word to mouth Advertisement respectively which
create attention of consumer. In context to the data analysis of whole family (both
nuclear and joint) the 185 respondent give their opinion that Television advertisement
get their attention, 47, 43 and 54 respondent give their opinion regarding
advertisement of print, radio & word to mouth respectively .To know the association
of family type and medium of advertisement get the Consumer attention 2 test
Consumer attention.
H1- There is association of family type and medium of advertisement get the
Consumer attention
Since 2 (3) =4.284, p > 0.05 at 5% level of significance then there is no significant
type of family.
advertisement get the Consumer attention:- The analysis of data indicates amongst
- 102 -
the 76 respondent of undergraduate educational qualification 48 respondent give the
opinion that Television medium of advertisement get more attention where as 6, 8 &
14 respondent give their opinion that print, radio & word to mouth medium of
- 103 -
Similarly amongst 98 respondent of graduate educational qualification 46 respondent
give the opinion that Television medium of advertisement get more attention where as
9, 25 & 18 respondent give their opinion that print, radio & word to mouth medium
the opinion that Television medium of advertisement get more attention where as 32,
10 & 22 respondent give their opinion that print, radio & word to mouth medium of
advertisement respectively get more attention. In context to the data analysis of whole
respondent of different qualification the 185 respondent give their opinion that
Television advertisement get their attention 47, 43 and 54 respondent give their
the Consumer attention 2 test statics can be tested for the Hypothesis
Since 2 (6) =28.724, p < 0.05 at 5% level of significance then there is significant
educational Qualification.
Consumer attention:- The analysis of data indicates amongst the 49 respondent who
are student 22 respondent give the opinion that Television medium of advertisement
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get more attention where as 4, 18 & 5 respondent give their opinion that print, radio
Housewife Count 0 1 26 8 35
Expected 5 4.6 19.7 5.7 35
Count
% within 0.00% 2.90% 74.30% 22.90% 100.00%
Occupation
Contd..
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Occupation * Which medium of Advertisement get your Attention Cross tabulation
Which medium of Advertisement get your
Attention
Word to
Print Radio Television Total
Mouth
Any Count 0 0 5 0 5
Other
(Please Expected 0.7 0.7 2.8 0.8 5
Specify) Count
% within 0.00% 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% 100.00%
Occupation
Total Count 47 43 185 54 329
Expected 47 43 185 54 329
Count
% within 14.30% 13.10% 56.20% 16.40% 100.00%
Occupation
Pearson Chi-Square Degree of freedom Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)
59.119a 15 0
give the opinion that Television medium of advertisement get more attention where as
5, 7 & 6 respondent give their opinion that print, radio & word to mouth medium of
medium of advertisement get more attention where as 15, 10 & 12 respondent give
their opinion that print, radio & word to mouth medium of advertisement respectively
respondent give the opinion that Television medium of advertisement get more
attention where as 23, 7 & 23 respondent give their opinion that print, radio & word
Furthermore 35 respondent who are housewife 26 respondent give the opinion that
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give their opinion that print, radio & word to mouth medium of advertisement
respectively get more attention and 5 respondent having some other occupation all 5
respondent give the opinion about Television advertisement medium get more
advertisement get the Consumer attention 2 test statistic can be tested for the
Hypothesis
Consumer attention.
Consumer attention
Since 2 (15) =59.119, p < 0.05 at 5% level of significance then there is significant
Occupation.
4.2.2.4 Relation between Martial Status and medium of advertisement get the
Consumer attention:- The analysis of data indicates amongst the 208 married
respondent 116 respondent give the opinion that Television medium of advertisement
get more attention where as 33, 23 & 36 respondent give their opinion that print,
radio & word to mouth medium of advertisement respectively get more attention.
Similarly amongst 118 unmarried respondent 67 respondent give the opinion that
respondent give their opinion that print, radio & word to mouth medium of
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Table No. 4.2.2.4:- Association of medium of advertisement with marital status of
respondent.
Marital Status * Which medium of Advertisement get your Attention Cross tabulation
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Further among 2 widow respondent 1 respondent give their opinion that print
advertisement & 1 respondent give their opinion that television advertisement get
more attention.
Similarly one separated respondent give their opinion that television advertisement
get more attention. In context to the data analysis of whole respondent of different
marital status the 185 respondent give their opinion that Television advertisement get
their attention 47, 43 and 54 respondent give their opinion regarding advertisement of
print, radio & word to mouth To know the association of marital status and medium
of advertisement get the Consumer attention 2 test statistic can be tested for the
Hypothesis
Consumer attention.
H1- There is association of marital status and medium of advertisement get the
Consumer attention
Since 2 (9) =6.629, p > 0.05 at 5% level of significance then there is no significant
marital Status.
The analysis of data in the table above indicates that among the 96 respondents of age
group 18-28 years 54 respondent are in the opinion that television medium of
advertisement create more attention, 8 respondent give their opinion that of print
medium of advertisement create more attention, 16 respondent give their opinion that
of radio medium of advertisement create more attention and 18 respondent give their
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Table No. 4.2.2.5:- Association of medium of advertisement with age of
respondent.
Similarly age group of 29-39 years among 129 respondents, 74 respondent are in the
give their opinion that of print medium of advertisement create more attention, 10
respondent give their opinion that of radio medium of advertisement create more
attention and 22 respondent give their opinion that word to mouth medium of
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advertisement create more attention. Out of 46 respondent of age group 40-50 years
27 respondent are in the opinion that television medium of advertisement create more
attention, 9 respondent give their opinion that of print medium of advertisement create
more attention, 4 respondent give their opinion that of radio medium of advertisement
create more attention and 6 respondent give their opinion that word to mouth medium
create more attention, 4 respondent give their opinion that of print medium of
advertisement create more attention, 13 respondent give their opinion that of radio
medium of advertisement create more attention and 8 respondent give their opinion
that word to mouth medium of advertisement create more attention. Similarly age
greater than 61 years among 13 respondents, 10 respondents are in the opinion that
television medium of advertisement create more attention and 3 respondents give their
opinion that of print medium of advertisement create more attention. To know the
association of age and advertisement media that creates attention 2 test statistic can
H1- There is association of age and advertisement media that create attention.
Since 2 (12) =25.799, p < 0.05 at 5% level of significance then there is significant
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4.2.3 Effect of advertising on consumer-
which may take different forms. For example, after viewing an ad, a consumer may
decide that his or her usual product either seems better or worse that the one being
advertised, without knowing exactly why. Other effects of advertising that create a
informational aspect. Advertising is an effective tool to attract people and to divert
consumer is emotionally attached with the product he/she will prefer to purchase that
product. Advertising can create a shift in thinking by consumers, which may take
different forms. Other effects of advertising that create a more conscious shift in
cretae intrest and making decision etc. To know how advertisement affects on
consumer an attempt has been made. The relevant data and its analysis are given
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Fig 4. 9:- Effect of advertising on respondent
The study indicates that advertisement effect 31% respondent by generating intrest.
about the product & advertisement effect 18.24% respondent by recall i.e the process
4.2.4 Advertising medium and OTC medicine (Over the counter drug):-
medicines are one of the vital tools needed to improve and maintain health. However,
for too many people throughout the world medicines are still unaffordable,
- 113 -
counter medicines. The trend towards self-medication is likely to grow as consumers
are becoming familiar with OTC drugs, due to extensive advertising by companies.
The present study intends to explore advertising effectiveness of OTC drugs amongst
E
Z
W
W
K
D
&
To know which advertising medium is more effective among consumer for common
use medicine an attempt has been made. The relevant data and its analysis are given
Table No. 4.2.4:- Effective medium of advertisement for common use medicines.
- 114 -
Fig 4.11:- Effective medium of advertisement for common use medicines
common practice to place products and brands into mainstream media. The analysis
indicates that for common use medicine television medium of advertisement effect
respondent for common use medicine & radio medium of advertisement effect 11.55
effect 3.65% respondent for common use medicine An attempt was also made to
effective medium of advertisememnt .For this purpose the data was processed to
establish the relationship of factors which are responsible for determining effective
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4.2.4.1 Relation between family size and more effective medium of advertisement
for OTC drug:- The analysis of data in the table above indicates that among the 254
nuclear family 116 respondent are in the opinion that television medium of
advertisement is more effective for selecting the common use medicines (OTC).
type of respondent
Family type * For common use medicines (OTC) which medium of advertisement is more
affective Cross tabulation
For common use medicines (OTC) which medium
of advertisement is more affective
News
Television Paper Radio Internet Other Total
Family Nuclear Count 116 74 29 27 8 254
type Expected 111.2 78.7 29.3 25.5 9.3 254.0
Count
% within 45.7% 29.1% 11.4% 10.6% 3.1% 100.0%
Family
size
Count 28 28 9 6 4 75
Expected 32.8 23.3 8.7 7.5 2.7 75.0
Count
Joint
% within 37.3% 37.3% 12.0% 8.0% 5.3% 100.0%
Family
size
Count 144 102 38 33 12 329
Expected 144.0 102.0 38.0 33.0 12.0 329.0
Count
Total
% within 43.8% 31.0% 11.6% 10.0% 3.6% 100.0%
Family
size
Pearson Chi-Square Degree of freedom Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)
a
3.348 4 .501
- 116 -
Similarly 74 respondent of News Paper advertisement, 29 respondent of Radio
for selecting the common use medicines (OTC). Further in 75 respondent of joint
more effective for selecting the common use medicines (OTC). Similarly 28
opinion regarding attention of advertisement more effective for selecting the common
In context to the data analysis of whole family (both nuclear and joint) the 144
effective for selecting the common use medicines (OTC), 102 respondent of news
advertisement more effective for selecting the common use medicines (OTC). To
know the association of family type and medium of advertisement more effective for
selecting common use medicines.2test statistic can be tested for the hypothesis.
H1- There is association of family type & medium of advertisement more effective
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Since 2(4) =3.348, p > 0.05 at 5% level of significance then there is no significant
association of family type & medium of advertisement more effective for selecting
advertisement are more effective for OTC medicine where as 21, 3, 0 & 7
respondent give their opinion that Newspaper, radio, Internet & other medium of
Contd..
- 118 -
Educational Qualification * For common use medicines (OTC) which medium of advertisement
is more affective Cross tabulation
For common use medicines (OTC) which medium
of advertisement is more affective
News
Television Paper Radio Internet Other Total
Post Count 57 45 23 25 5 155
Graduate Expected 67.8 48.1 17.9 15.5 5.7 155.0
Count
% within 36.8% 29.0% 14.8% 16.1% 3.2% 100.0%
Educational
Qualification
Total Count 144 102 38 33 12 329
Expected 144.0 102.0 38.0 33.0 12.0 329.0
Count
% within 43.8% 31.0% 11.6% 10.0% 3.6% 100.0%
Educational
Qualification
Pearson Chi-Square Degree of freedom Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)
36.508 8 .000
give the opinion that Television medium of advertisement are more effective for OTC
medicine where as 36, 12, 8 & 0 respondent give their opinion that that Newspaper,
radio, Internet & other medium of advertisement are more effective for OTC
respondent give the opinion that Television medium of advertisement are more
effective for OTC medicine where as 45, 23, 25 & 5 respondent give their opinion
that Newspaper, radio, Internet & other medium of advertisement are more effective
for OTC medicine. In context to the data analysis of whole respondent of different
qualification the 144 respondent give their opinion that Television advertisement are
more effective for OTC medicine and 102, 38, 33, 12 respondent give their opinion
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regarding advertisement of Newspaper, radio, Internet & other medium of
advertisement are more effective for OTC medicine. To know the association of
Since 2 (8) =36.508, p < 0.05 at 5% level of significance then there is significant
advertisement for OTC drug:- The analysis of data indicates amongst the 49
advertisement are more effective for OTC medicine where as 18, 9, 0 & 0
respondent give their opinion that Newspaper, radio, Internet & other medium of
advertisement are more effective for OTC medicine. Similarly amongst 60 respondent
of business occupation 33 respondent give the opinion that News paper medium of
advertisement are more effective for OTC medicine where as 36, 12, 8 & 0
respondent give their opinion that that Television, radio, Internet & other medium of
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Table No. 4.2.4.3:- Association of effective medium of advertisement with
occupation of respondent
Occupation * For common use medicines (OTC) which medium of advertisement is more
affective Cross tabulation
For common use medicines (OTC) which
medium of advertisement is more affective
News
Television Paper Radio Internet other Total
Student Count 19 16 8 2 4 49
Expected 21.4 15.2 5.7 4.9 1.8 49.0
Count
% within 38.8% 32.7% 16.3% 4.1% 8.2% 100.0%
Occupation
Business Count 18 33 9 0 0 60
Expected 26.3 18.6 6.9 6.0 2.2 60.0
Count
% within 30.0% 55.0% 15.0% 0.0% 0.0% 100.0%
Occupation
Government Count 43 31 4 3 2 83
Expected 36.3 25.7 9.6 8.3 3.0 83.0
Service
Occupation Count
% within 51.8% 37.3% 4.8% 3.6% 2.4% 100.0%
Occupation
Professional Count 41 12 15 26 3 97
Expected 42.5 30.1 11.2 9.7 3.5 97.0
Count
% within 42.3% 12.4% 15.5% 26.8% 3.1% 100.0%
Occupation
Housewife Count 23 7 0 2 3 35
Expected 15.3 10.9 4.0 3.5 1.3 35.0
Count
% within 65.7% 20.0% 0.0% 5.7% 8.6% 100.0%
Occupation
Any Other Count 0 3 2 0 0 5
(Please Expected 2.2 1.6 .6 .5 .2 5.0
Specify) Count
% within 0.0% 60.0% 40.0% 0.0% 0.0% 100.0%
Occupation
Contd.
- 121 -
Occupation * For common use medicines (OTC) which medium of advertisement is more
affective Cross tabulation
For common use medicines (OTC) which medium
of advertisement is more affective
News
other Total
Television Paper Radio Internet
Total Count 144 102 38 33 12 329
Occupation
97.098 20 .000
Television medium of advertisement are more effective for OTC medicine where as
31, 4, 3 & 2 respondent give their opinion that Newspaper, radio, Internet & other
medium of advertisement are more effective for OTC medicine. 97 respondent who
medium of advertisement are more effective for OTC medicine where as 12, 15, 26
& 3 respondent give their opinion that Newspaper, radio, Internet & other medium of
Out of total 329 respondent 35 respondent are housewife in which 23 respondent give
the opinion that Television medium of advertisement are more effective for OTC
medicine where as 7, 0, 2 & 3 respondent give their opinion that Newspaper, radio,
Internet & other medium of advertisement are more effective for OTC medicine. 5
- 122 -
opinion that Newspaper, radio medium of advertisement are more effective for OTC
medicine.
for common use medicine 2 test statics can be tested for the Hypothesis
Since 2 (20) =97.098, p < 0.05 at 5% level of significance then there is significant
medicines (OTC).
The analysis of data indicates amongst the 208 married respondent 69 respondent give
the opinion that Television medium of advertisement act as a suggestive measure for
purchase of common use medicine, whereas 56 respondents give their opinion that by
doctor suggestion they will purchase common use medicine and 16 respondents give
their opinion that newspaper medium of advertisement act as suggestive measure for
purchase of common use medicines, 15 respondents give their opinion that by retailer
- 123 -
Table No. 4.2.4.4:- Association of effective medium of advertisement with marital
status of respondent
Marital Status * For common use medicines (OTC) which medium of advertisement is more
affective Cross tabulation
For common use medicines (OTC) which medium
of advertisement is more affective
News
Television Paper Radio Internet other Total
Marital Married Count 95 71 25 11 6 208
Status Expected 91.0 64.5 24.0 20.9 7.6 208.0
Count
% within 45.7% 34.1% 12.0% 5.3% 2.9% 100.0%
Marital
Status
Unmarried Count 47 30 13 22 6 118
Expected 51.6 36.6 13.6 11.8 4.3 118.0
Count
% within 39.8% 25.4% 11.0% 18.6% 5.1% 100.0%
Marital
Status
Widow Count 1 1 0 0 0 2
Expected .9 .6 .2 .2 .1 2.0
Count
% within 50.0% 50.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 100.0%
Marital
Status
Separated Count 1 0 0 0 0 1
Expected .4 .3 .1 .1 .0 1.0
Count
% within 100.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 100.0%
Marital
Status
Total Count 144 102 38 33 12 329
Expected 144.0 102.0 38.0 33.0 12.0 329.0
Count
% within 43.8% 31.0% 11.6% 10.0% 3.6% 100.0%
Marital
Status
Pearson Chi-Square Degree of freedom Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)
a
18.933 12 .090
- 124 -
Furthermore amongst 118 unmarried respondent of 31 respondent give the opinion
common use medicine, whereas 36 respondents give their opinion that by doctor
suggestion they will purchase common use medicine and 17 respondents give their
purchase of common use medicines, 14 respondents give their opinion that by retailer
common use medicines. Further 2 widow respondent of 1 respondent give the opinion
common use medicine & 1 respondent give their opinion that newspaper medium of
know the association of marital status and suggestion by which consumer can
purchase common use medicine 2 test statics can be tested for the Hypothesis.
Since 2 (12) =15.584, p > 0.05 at 5% level of significance then there is no significant
association marital and suggestion by which consumer can purchase common use
medicine.
4.2.5 Suggestive measure for purchase of common use medicines: - Rational use
- 125 -
Rational use requires that patients receive the appropriate medicine, in the proper
dose, for an adequate period of time, and at the lowest cost to them and their
(internal sources) and from a variety of external sources i.e. pharmacists, interpersonal
prescription and non-prescription over the counter drugs. OTC products are somewhat
similar to consumer goods, while the prescription drugs share some characteristics of
industrial goods and other characteristics of consumer goods (Mortanges et al., 1997).
Liu (1995) is also of the view that in pharmaceutical industry, prescription products
are considered to be organizational buying, whereas over the counter preparations are
categorized as consumer buying. Due to changes in the category of many drugs from
prescription to over the counter drugs, more self care information is available
(Westerlund et al., 2001). To know which suggestive medium is more effective among
consumer for purchase of common use medicine an attempt has been made. The
relevant data and its analysis are given below table no 4.2.5
Table no. 4.2.5:- Suggestion by which consumer purchase common use medicines
- 126 -
Fig 4.12: Suggestion by which consumer purchase common use medicines
The study indicates that about 31.00 % respondent purchase common use medicine
Thus the study highlights that television medium of advertisement act as a suggestive
measure for consumer for purchase of commom use medicines. An attempt was also
made to assess the degree of relationship of Demographic variables like family size,
suggestion by which consumer will purchase common use medicines.For this purpose
the data was processed to establish the relationship of factors which are responsible
for determining suggestion by which consumer will purchase common use medicines
- 127 -
4.2.5.1 Relation between Family Size and suggestion by which consumer can
The analysis of data in the table above indicates that among the 254 nuclear family 77
Table no. 4.2.5.1:- Association of suggestion by which common use medicine are
Family type * By which suggestion you will purchase common use medicines Cross tabulation
- 128 -
Similarly 64 respondents give their opinion that by doctor suggestion they will
purchase common use medicines & 67 respondents give their opinion that by friend
and relatives suggestion they will purchase common use medicines. 20 respondents
give their opinion that by retailer suggestion they will purchase common use
medicines and 26 respondents give their opinion that by news paper advertisement
they will purchase common use medicines. Further in 75 respondent of joint family 28
respondent are in the opinion that by doctor suggestion they will purchase common
use medicines. Similarly 25 respondent are in the opinion that television medium of
respondents give their opinion that by retailer suggestion they will purchase common
use medicines 8 respondents give their opinion that by news paper advertisement they
will purchase common use medicines & 5 respondents give their opinion that by
friend and relatives suggestion they will purchase common use medicines. To know
the association of family type and suggestion for purchase common use medicines 2
H1- There is association of family type & suggestion by which consumer can
Since 2 (4) =14.629, p > 0.05 at 5% level of significance then there is no significant
association of family type & suggestion by which consumer can purchase common
use medicine.
- 129 -
4.2.5.2 Relation between Educational Qualification and suggestion by which
where as 24 respondent give their opinion that by doctor suggestion they will
purchase common use medicine. Similarly 15 respondents give their opinion that by
friend and relatives suggestion they will purchase common use medicine and 8&2
Table no. 4.2.5.2:- Association of suggestion by which common use medicine are
Educational Qualification * By which suggestion you will purchase common use medicines
Crosstabulation
By which suggestion you will purchase common use
medicines
News Friends &
Doctor Retailer Television paper Relatives Total
Educational Under Count 24 2 27 8 15 76
Qualification graduate Expected 21.3 6.7 23.6 7.9 16.6 76.0
Count
% within 31.6% 2.6% 35.5% 10.5% 19.7% 100.0%
Educational
Qualification
Count 20 14 43 7 14 98
Graduate Count
% within 20.4% 14.3% 43.9% 7.1% 14.3% 100.0%
Educational
Qualification
Contd.
- 130 -
Educational Qualification * By which suggestion you will purchase common use medicines Cross
tabulation
By which suggestion you will purchase common use
medicines
Friends
News &
Doctor Retailer Television paper Relatives Total
Post Count 48 13 32 19 43 155
Graduate Expected 43.3 13.7 48.1 16.0 33.9 155.0
Count
% within 31.0% 8.4% 20.6% 12.3% 27.7% 100.0%
Educational
Qualification
Total Count 92 29 102 34 72 329
Expected 92.0 29.0 102.0 34.0 72.0 329.0
Count
% within 28.0% 8.8% 31.0% 10.3% 21.9% 100.0%
Educational
Qualification
Pearson Chi-Square Degree of freedom Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)
a
27.317 8 .001
give the opinion that Television medium of advertisement act as a suggestive measure
for purchase of common use medicine, where as 20 respondent give their opinion that
respondent give their opinion that by friend and relatives suggestion they will
purchase common use medicine and 14 & 7 respondent purchase common use
medicine by retailer and news paper Further 155 respondent of post graduate
where as 48 respondent give their opinion that by doctor suggestion they will
purchase common use medicine. Similarly 43 respondents give their opinion that by
friend and relatives suggestion they will purchase common use medicine and 13 & 19
- 131 -
respondent purchase common use medicine by retailer and news paper. In context to
the data analysis of whole respondent of different qualification the 102 respondent
measure for purchase of common use medicine, where as 92 respondent give their
opinion that by doctor suggestion they will purchase common use medicine. Similarly
72 respondent give their opinion that by friend and relatives suggestion they will
purchase common use medicine and 29, 34 respondent purchase commom use
Since 2 (8) =27.317, p < 0.05 at 5% level of significance then there is significant
The analysis of data indicates amongst the 49 student respondent 16 respondent give
the opinion that Television medium of advertisement act as a suggestive measure for
purchase of common use medicine, where as 12 respondents give their opinion that by
doctor suggestion they will purchase common use medicine and 13 respondents give
- 132 -
their opinion that news paper medium of advertisement act as suggestive measure for
Friends
News
&
Doctor Retailer Television paper Relatives Total
Student Count 12 4 16 13 4 49
Expected 13.7 4.3 15.2 5.1 10.7 49
Count
% within 24.50% 8.20% 32.70% 26.50% 8.20% 100.00%
Occupation
Business Count 11 6 22 3 18 60
Expected 16.8 5.3 18.6 6.2 13.1 60
Count
% within 18.30% 10.00% 36.70% 5.00% 30.00% 100.00%
Occupation
Government Count 17 11 23 6 26 83
Occupation Service Expected 23.2 7.3 25.7 8.6 18.2 83
Count
% within 20.50% 13.30% 27.70% 7.20% 31.30% 100.00%
Occupation
Professional Count 47 8 21 9 12 97
Expected 27.1 8.6 30.1 10 21.2 97
Count
% within 48.50% 8.20% 21.60% 9.30% 12.40% 100.00%
Occupation
Housewife Count 0 0 20 3 12 35
Expected 9.8 3.1 10.9 3.6 7.7 35
Count
% within 0.00% 0.00% 57.10% 8.60% 34.30% 100.00%
Occupation
Count 5 0 0 0 0 5
Contd
- 133 -
Occupation * By which suggestion you will purchase common use medicines Crosstabulation
By which suggestion you will purchase common use medicines
News Friends &
Doctor Retailer Television paper Relatives Total
Total Count 92 29 102 34 72 329
Expected 92 29 102 34 72 329
Count
% within 28.00% 8.80% 31.00% 10.30% 21.90% 100.00%
Occupation
Pearson Chi-Square Degree of freedom Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)
a
88.541 20 0
respondents by friends and relatives suggestion they purchase common use medicines.
purchase of common use medicine whereas 11 respondents give their opinion that by
doctor suggestion they will purchase common use medicine and 3 respondents give
their opinion that news paper medium of advertisement act as suggestive measure for
purchase of common use medicines. Similarly 6 respondents give their opinion that
give their opinion that by doctor suggestion they will purchase common use medicine
and 6 respondents give their opinion that news paper medium of advertisement act as
give their opinion that by retailer suggestion and 26 respondents by friends and
relatives suggestion they purchase common use medicines. 97 respondent who are
- 134 -
advertisement act as a suggestive measure for purchase of common use medicine,
where as 47 respondents give their opinion that by doctor suggestion they will
purchase common use medicine and 8 respondents give their opinion that news paper
medicines. Similarly 9 respondents give their opinion that by retailer suggestion and
give their opinion that by doctor suggestion and retailer suggestion they will purchase
common use medicine and 3 respondents give their opinion that news paper medium
Similarly 12 respondents give their opinion that by friends and relatives suggestions
purchase common use medicine 2 test statics can be tested for the Hypothesis
Since 2 (20) =88.541, p < 0.05 at 5% level of significance then there is significant
association Occupation and suggestion by which consumer can purchase common use
medicine.
- 135 -
4.2.5.4 Relation between Martial Status and suggestion by which consumer can
The analysis of data indicates amongst the 208 married respondent 69 respondent give
the opinion that Television medium of advertisement act as a suggestive measure for
purchase of common use medicine, whereas 56 respondents give their opinion that by
doctor suggestion they will purchase common use medicine and 16 respondents give
their opinion that newspaper medium of advertisement act as suggestive measure for
Marital Status * By which suggestion you will purchase common use medicines Cross tabulation
By which suggestion you will purchase common use
medicines
Friends
News &
Doctor Retailer Television paper Relatives Total
Married Count 56 15 69 16 52 208
Expected 58.2 18.3 64.5 21.5 45.5 208.0
Count
% within 26.9% 7.2% 33.2% 7.7% 25.0% 100.0%
Marital
Status
Unmarried Count 36 14 31 17 20 118
Expected 33.0 10.4 36.6 12.2 25.8 118.0
Marital Count
Status % within 30.5% 11.9% 26.3% 14.4% 16.9% 100.0%
Marital
Status
Count 0 0 1 1 0 2
Expected .6 .2 .6 .2 .4 2.0
Count
Widow
% within 0.0% 0.0% 50.0% 50.0% 0.0% 100.0%
Marital
Status
Contd..
- 136 -
Marital Status * By which suggestion you will purchase common use medicines Cross
tabulation
By which suggestion you will purchase common use
medicines
Friends
News &
Doctor Retailer Television paper Relatives Total
Separated Count 0 0 1 0 0 1
Expected .3 .1 .3 .1 .2 1.0
Count
% within 0.0% 0.0% 100.0% 0.0% 0.0% 100.0%
Marital
Status
Total Count 92 29 102 34 72 329
Expected 92.0 29.0 102.0 34.0 72.0 329.0
Count
% within 28.0% 8.8% 31.0% 10.3% 21.9% 100.0%
Marital
Status
Pearson Chi-Square Degree of freedom Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)
a
15.584 12 .211
purchase of common use medicines, 15 respondents give their opinion that by retailer
give their opinion that by doctor suggestion they will purchase common use medicine
and 17 respondents give their opinion that newspaper medium of advertisement act as
suggestive measure for purchase of common use medicines, 14 respondents give their
- 137 -
suggestive measure for purchase of common use medicine & 1 respondent give their
purchase of common use medicines. Similarly 1 respondent give their opinion that by
common use medicines. To know the association of marital status and suggestion by
which consumer can purchase common use medicine 2 test statics can be tested for
the Hypothesis
association marital and suggestion by which consumer can purchase common use
medicine.
The drugs which can be collected without the prescription are termed as the Over the
Counter (OTC) drugs. The impact of those messages on consumers is often stronger
than the direct effect of advertisements, because marketing campaigns that trigger
positive word of mouth have comparatively higher campaign reach and influence.
need to first be paying attention This study is also endeavored to identify the most
suitable influencing factors that influence consumer to purchase of any OTC drugs.
The primary factors identified are the past experience with the drugs, corporate image
- 138 -
of the pharmaceutical company, brand identity of the drug, insignificant side effect,
and prior assumption about the drug to be used for the ailment, apart from this
advertising,friend & relatives,Retailer and doctor also influence for selecting common
use medicines. To know most influencing factor for selecting common use medicine
an attempt has been made. The relevant data and its analysis are given below in table
no.4.2.6
The study indicates that about 31.00% respondent influence by advertising for
Friends & relatives for selection/purchasing of common use medicine 24.62%
common use medicine.Thus the study highlights that advertisement act as a major
attempt was also made to assess the degree of relationship of Demographic variables
respondents with influencing factor for selecting common medicines .For this purpose
the data was processed to establish the relationship of factors which are responsible
for determining influencing factor for selecting common medicines with demographic
4.2.6.5
4.2.6.1 Relation between Family type and factor influence most in selecting
marketers are trying to find the roles and influence of the husband, wife and children.
If the buying decision of a particular product is influenced by wife then the marketers
will try to target the women in their advertisement. The analysis of data in the table
above indicates that among the 254 nuclear family 84 respondent are in the opinion
diseases.76 respondent give their opinion that recommendation of the friends and
relatives influenced most for selecting medicine for common disease 57 respondent
give their opinion that doctor suggestion influence most for purchase of medicine
used for common diseases and 37 respondent give their opinion that retailer influence
- 140 -
Table no. 4.2.6.1:- Association of factor influencing most in selecting medicine
for common disease with family type
Family type * Who influenced you most in selecting medicine for common diseases
Crosstabulation
Who influenced you most in selecting
medicine for common diseases
Friends &
Advertising relatives Retailer Doctor Total
Family Nuclear Count 84 76 37 57 254
type Expected 78.7 78.0 34.7 62.5 254.0
Count
% within 33.1% 29.9% 14.6% 22.4% 100.0%
Family
size
Joint Count 18 25 8 24 75
Expected 23.3 23.0 10.3 18.5 75.0
Count
% within 24.0% 33.3% 10.7% 32.0% 100.0%
Family
size
Total Count 102 101 45 81 329
Expected 102.0 101.0 45.0 81.0 329.0
Count
% within 31.0% 30.7% 13.7% 24.6% 100.0%
Family
size
Pearson Chi-Square Degree of freedom Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)
a
4.549 3 .208
give their opinion that recommendation of the friends and relatives influenced most
for selecting medicine for common disease, 24 respondent give their opinion that
doctor suggestion influence most for purchase of medicine used for common diseases
- 141 -
and 8 respondent give their opinion that retailer influence most for selecting medicine
for common disease. To know the association of family type and factor influence to
purchase medicine for common disease 2 Test statistic can be tested for the
Hypothesis.
H1- There is association of family type & factor influence to purchase medicine for
common disease.
Since 2 (3) =4.549, p > 0.05 at 5% level of significance then there is no significant
association of family type & factor influence to purchase medicine for common
disease.
Every society possesses some form of social class which is important to the marketers
because the buying behavior of people in a given social class is similar.The analysis
of data in the table below indicates that among the 76 undergraduate 14 respondent
are in the opinion that advertisement influence most in selecting present medicines
for common diseases. 26 respondent give their opinion that recommendation of the
friends and relatives influenced most for selecting medicine for common disease 24
respondent give their opinion that doctor suggestion influence most for purchase of
medicine used for common diseases and 12 respondent give their opinion that retailer
- 142 -
Table no. 4.2.6.2:- Association of factor influences most in selecting medicine for
common disease with Educational Qualification.
Educational Qualification * Who influenced you most in selecting medicine for common
diseases Crosstabulation
Who influenced you most in selecting
medicine for common diseases
Friends
&
Advertising relatives Retailer Doctor Total
Educational Under Count 14 26 12 24 76
Qualification graduate Expected 23.6 23.3 10.4 18.7 76.0
Count
% within 18.4% 34.2% 15.8% 31.6% 100.0%
Educational
Qualification
Graduate Count 36 29 15 18 98
Expected 30.4 30.1 13.4 24.1 98.0
Count
% within 36.7% 29.6% 15.3% 18.4% 100.0%
Educational
Qualification
Count 52 46 18 39 155
9.631a 6 .141
- 143 -
Further in 98 respondent of graduate qualification 36 respondent are in the opinion
diseases, 29 respondent give their opinion that recommendation of the friends and
relatives influenced most for selecting medicine for common disease, 18 respondent
give their opinion that doctor suggestion influence most for purchase of medicine
used for common diseases and 15 respondent give their opinion that retailer influence
most for selecting medicine for common disease. Similarly 155 postgraduate
selecting present medicines for common diseases, 46 respondent give their opinion
that recommendation of the friends and relatives influenced most for selecting
medicine for common disease, 39 respondent give their opinion that doctor suggestion
influence most for purchase of medicine used for common diseases and 18
respondent give their opinion that retailer influence most for selecting medicine for
purchase medicine for common disease 2test statistic can be tested for the Hypothesis
common disease
H1- There is association of Qualification & factor influence to select medicine for
common disease
Since 2 (6) =9.631, p > 0.05 at 5% level of significance then there is no significant
association of qualification & factor influence to select medicine for common disease.
- 144 -
4.2.6.3 Relation between Occupation and factor influence most in selecting
The analysis of data in the table above indicates that among the 49 student respondent
present medicines for common diseases 17 respondent give their opinion that
recommendation of the friends and relatives influenced most for selecting medicine
for common disease 12 respondent give their opinion that doctor suggestion influence
most for purchase of medicine used for common diseases and 4 respondent give their
opinion that retailer influence most for selecting medicine for common disease.
Table no. 4.2.6.3:- Association between Occupation and factor influence most in
selecting medicine for common diseases.
Occupation * Who influenced you most in selecting medicine for common diseases
Crosstabulation
Who influenced you most in selecting
medicine for common diseases
Friends
&
Advertising relatives Retailer Doctor Total
Occupation Student Count 16 17 4 12 49
Expected 15.2 15.0 6.7 12.1 49.0
Count
% within 32.7% 34.7% 8.2% 24.5% 100.0%
Occupation
Business Count 19 18 9 14 60
Expected 18.6 18.4 8.2 14.8 60.0
Count
% within 31.7% 30.0% 15.0% 23.3% 100.0%
Occupation
Count 25 22 14 22 83
Expected 25.7 25.5 11.4 20.4 83.0
Government
Count
Service
% within 30.1% 26.5% 16.9% 26.5% 100.0%
Occupation
Contd..
- 145 -
Occupation * Who influenced you most in selecting medicine for common diseases
Crosstabulation
Friends
&
Advertising Retailer Doctor Total
relatives
Professional Count 34 36 11 16 97
Count
Occupation
Housewife Count 6 8 6 15 35
Count
Occupation
Specify) Count
Occupation
Count
Occupation
17.755 15 .276
- 146 -
Further in 60 respondent of business occupation 19 respondent are in the opinion that
respondent give their opinion that recommendation of the friends and relatives
influenced most for selecting medicine for common disease,14 respondent give their
opinion that doctor suggestion influence most for purchase of medicine used for
common diseases and 19 respondent give their opinion that retailer influence most
selecting present medicines for common diseases, 22 respondent give their opinion
that recommendation of the friends and relatives influenced most for selecting
medicine for common disease, 22 respondent give their opinion that doctor suggestion
influence most for purchase of medicine used for common diseases and 14
respondent give their opinion that retailer influence most for selecting medicine for
respondent give their opinion that recommendation of the friends and relatives
influenced most for selecting medicine for common disease, 16 respondent give their
opinion that doctor suggestion influence most for purchase of medicine used for
common diseases and 11 respondent give their opinion that retailer influence most
are in the opinion that advertisement influence most in selecting present medicines
for common diseases,8 respondent give their opinion that recommendation of the
friends and relatives influenced most for selecting medicine for common disease, 15
respondent give their opinion that doctor suggestion influence most for purchase of
medicine used for common diseases and 6 respondent give their opinion that retailer
- 147 -
influence most for selecting medicine for common disease. 5 respondent of different
influenced by retailer for selecting medicine for common disease. To know the
common disease
H1- There is association of occupation & factor influence to select medicine for
common disease
Since 2 (15) =17.755, p > 0.05 at 5% level of significance then there is no significant
association of occupation & factor influence to select medicine for common disease.
4.2.6.4 Relation between Marital Status and factor influence most in selecting
The analysis of data in the table above indicates that among the 208 married
selecting present medicines for common diseases 64 respondent give their opinion
that recommendation of the friends and relatives influenced most for selecting
medicine for common disease, 56 respondent give their opinion that doctor suggestion
influence most for purchase of medicine used for common diseases and 26
respondent give their opinion that retailer influence most for selecting medicine for
common disease.
- 148 -
Table no. 4.2.6.4:- Association between Marital Status and factor influence most
in selecting medicine for common diseases.
Marital Status * Who influenced you most in selecting medicine for common diseases Cross
tabulation
Who influenced you most in selecting medicine
for common diseases
Friends &
Advertising relatives Retailer Doctor Total
Marital Married Count 62 64 26 56 208
Status Expected 64.5 63.9 28.4 51.2 208.0
Count
% within 29.8% 30.8% 12.5% 26.9% 100.0%
Marital
Status
Unmarried Count 39 37 18 24 118
Expected 36.6 36.2 16.1 29.1 118.0
Count
% within 33.1% 31.4% 15.3% 20.3% 100.0%
Marital
Status
Widow Count 0 0 1 1 2
Expected .6 .6 .3 .5 2.0
Count
% within 0.0% 0.0% 50.0% 50.0% 100.0%
Marital
Status
Separated Count 1 0 0 0 1
Expected .3 .3 .1 .2 1.0
Count
% within 100.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 100.0%
Marital
Status
Total Count 102 101 45 81 329
Expected 102.0 101.0 45.0 81.0 329.0
Count
% within 31.0% 30.7% 13.7% 24.6% 100.0%
Marital
Status
Pearson Chi-Square Degree of freedom Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)
a
7.936 9 .541
- 149 -
Further in 118 unmarried respondent 39 respondent are in the opinion that
37 respondent give their opinion that recommendation of the friends and relatives
influenced most for selecting medicine for common disease, 24 respondent give
their opinion that doctor suggestion influence most for purchase of medicine used
for common diseases and 18 respondent give their opinion that retailer influence
advertisement 1 respondent give their opinion that doctor suggestion influence most
for purchase of medicine used for common diseases and 1 respondent give their
opinion that retailer influence most for selecting medicine for common disease To
know the association of marital status and factor influence to purchase medicine for
H1- There is association of marital status & factor influence to select medicine for
common disease
Since 2 (9) =7.935, p > 0.05 at 5% level of significance then there is no significant
association of marital status & factor influence to select medicine for common
disease.
4.2.6.5 Relation between Age and influencing factor in selecting medicine for
common disease :- The analysis of data in the table above indicates that among the
96 respondents of age group 18-28 years 39 respondent are in the opinion that
28 respondent give their opinion that recommendation of the friends and relatives
influenced most for selecting medicine for common disease, 17 respondent give
their opinion that doctor suggestion influence most for purchase of medicine used
for common diseases and 12 respondent give their opinion that retailer influence
Table no. 4.2.6.5:- Association between Age and factor influence most in selecting
Age * Who influenced you most in selecting medicine for common diseases Crosstabulation
Who influenced you most in selecting medicine for Total
common diseases
Advertising Friends & Retailer Doctor
relatives
Count 39 28 12 17 96
18-28 Expected Count 29.8 29.5 13.1 23.6 96.0
% within Age 40.6% 29.2% 12.5% 17.7% 100.0%
Count 34 43 18 34 129
29-39 Expected Count 40.0 39.6 17.6 31.8 129.0
% within Age 26.4% 33.3% 14.0% 26.4% 100.0%
Count 17 12 8 9 46
Age 40-50 Expected Count 14.3 14.1 6.3 11.3 46.0
% within Age 37.0% 26.1% 17.4% 19.6% 100.0%
Count 10 16 4 15 45
51-61 Expected Count 14.0 13.8 6.2 11.1 45.0
% within Age 22.2% 35.6% 8.9% 33.3% 100.0%
Count 2 2 3 6 13
> 61 Expected Count 4.0 4.0 1.8 3.2 13.0
% within Age 15.4% 15.4% 23.1% 46.2% 100.0%
16.952a 12 .151
- 151 -
Further in 129 respondent of age group 34 respondent are in the opinion that
43 respondent give their opinion that recommendation of the friends and relatives
influenced most for selecting medicine for common disease, 34 respondent give
their opinion that doctor suggestion influence most for purchase of medicine used
for common diseases and 18 respondent give their opinion that retailer influence
most for selecting medicine for common disease. Similarly 46 respondent of age
group 40-50 years 17 respondent are in the opinion that advertisement influence
most in selecting present medicines for common diseases, 12 respondent give their
opinion that recommendation of the friends and relatives influenced most for
selecting medicine for common disease, 9 respondent give their opinion that doctor
suggestion influence most for purchase of medicine used for common diseases and
8 respondent give their opinion that retailer influence most for selecting medicine
present medicines for common diseases, 16 respondent give their opinion that
recommendation of the friends and relatives influenced most for selecting medicine
for common disease, 15 respondent give their opinion that doctor suggestion
influence most for purchase of medicine used for common diseases and 4
respondent give their opinion that retailer influence most for selecting medicine for
common disease. Further 13 respondent of age group greater than 61, 2 respondent
are in the opinion that advertisement influence most in selecting present medicines
for common diseases,2 respondent give their opinion that recommendation of the
friends and relatives influenced most for selecting medicine for common disease, 6
respondent give their opinion that doctor suggestion influence most for purchase of
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medicine used for common diseases and 3 respondent give their opinion that
retailer influence most for selecting medicine for common disease To know the
association of Age and factor influence to purchase medicine for common disease 2
common disease
H1- There is association of Age & factor influence to select medicine for common
disease
significant association of Age & factor influence to select medicine for common
disease.
Of all marketing weapons, advertising is renowned for its long lasting impact on
consumer mind, as its exposure is much broader.To know the extent of lasting effect
of advertisement input i.e how much time these advertisement make their lasting
effect on consumer, an attempt has been made. The relevant data and its analysis are
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Fig 4.14: Lasting effect of Advertisement
The study indicates that about 28.27% respondent give their opinion that input of
advertisement make the lasting effect for one week. Similarly 24.01% respondent
give their opinion that input of advertisement make the lasting effect for more than
month and 22.49% respondent give their opinion that input of advertisement make the
lasting effect for about one month.Further more 16.41% respondent give their opinion
that input of advertisement make the lasting effect for few hours and 8.81%
respondent give their opinion that input of advertisement make the lasting effect for
about one day. Thus the study highlights that long lasting effect of advertisement is
Pharmaceutical advertising is one of the most important kinds of advertising that can
have a direct impact on the health of a consumer. In reality, it has been observed that
pharmaceutical product advertisers often promoted their products to achieve their own
goals at the potential risk of having an adverse effect on the consumer's health.
upon actual need. This type of advertising is most often seen in over-the-counter drug
advertisements, which is relatively new. Hence, this necessitates the fact that it is
essential for advertisers of such products to take special care and additional
has been observed that pharmaceutical product advertisers often promoted their
products to achieve their own goals at the potential risk of having an adverse effect on
the consumer's health. This type of advertising is most often seen in over-the-counter
drug product advertisements, and not as often in the case of prescription drug
made to assess the ability of advertisements to create the need for the product in mind
of consumers.
For this purpose consumer were classified into four categories:one categories includes
those respondents who are of the opinion that advertisement is able to create the need
of the products to a great extent, another categories includes those who are of the
categories of respondents include those who are either accept to some extent or not at
all. The relevant data and its analysis are given below in table no.4.4
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Fig. 4.15:- Impact advertisement to create need among consumer.
The analysis of data indicates that as many as 31.91% respondent are of the opinion
that advertisement of the product is able to create the need of the product in their mind
to great extent.Another 27.66% respondent are of the view that it is able to create the
is of the opinion that it is able to create the need for the to a great extent in their mind.
Remaining 20.06% respondent feel that advertising is not able to create the need for
the product at all in their mind.Thus the analysis clearly indicates that most of the
respondents are of the opinion that advertising plays significant role in creating the
need for the product in the mind of consumers but with varying extent.
Attention is a necessary ingredient for effective advertising. The market for consumer
do something special for them which will transform their life.The main reasons for
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liking an advertisement was the information it provided regarding the discount,special
gifts,brands and quality of the products. Keeping these factors into consideration an
attempt was made to know nature of attention paid by the customer when they see
new advertisement of pharmaceutical product like vitamin, tablets, cough syrup and
contraceptive etc. The relevant data and its analysis are given below in table no.4.5
advertisement
4 ignore it 33 10.03
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The analysis indicates that 48.02% respondent revealed that they pay some attention
23.71% indicated that they pay more attention towards advertisement whenever they
seen any new pharmaceutical advertisement. Similarly 18.24 % indicated that they
pay little attention towards advertisement whenever they seen any new
ignore it. This signifies that sample is dominated by those respondents who pay some
behavioral attributes associated with the consumer(s) exposed to the ad. The
pharmaceutical industry has not been as efficient in leveraging the power of their
brands. This is primarily because drugs have always competed against each other
know the product pharmaceutical advertisement attribute an attempt has been made.
The relevant data and its analysis are given below in table no.4.6
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Fig. 4.17:- Attributes observed in advertisement
The analysis indicates that 52.89 % respondent revealed that strength attribute in
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Fig 4.18:- Extent of influence of Pharmaceutical Advertisement
The analysis indicates that 31.91% respondent revealed that they influence by
are in the opinion that pharmaceutical advertisement had not influenced them at all in
Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs are one of the most important and easily available
public health aids for the treatment of common conditions or symptomatic relief.
Although there are different means of providing the consumers with drug information,
advertising seems to be one of the best ways and a powerful method of broadcasting
to provide the drug information to the patients. However, with the advent of
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technology, medications came to be marketed to the consumers, using a variety of
media, thus enabling them to make drug choices for themselves. An attempt was
The respondent view regarding the relying on advertisement while making purchase
The analysis of data indicates that 44.68 % respondent are of the opinion that they
agree to some extent on rely upon advertisement while making purchase decision
.Another 18.84% respondent are of the view that they strongly agree on rely upon
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advertisement while making purchase decision. Furthermore 17.63% of the
respondent is of the opinion that they agree to some extent on rely upon
the opinion that they do not rely upon advertisement while making purchase decision.
companies use positive emotional appeals, negative emotional appeals, and rational
with other brands, statistical information, or product usage information. Products may
the buyers. Advertising can serve for marketing well if it is suitable for marketing
strategy. Advertising build brand awareness, which builds trust and credibility.
of the product. Keeping this into consideration, an attempt was made to know most
1 stands for strongly agree, 2 stands agree, 3 stands for neutral, 4 stands for Disagree
and 5 stands for strongly disagree. The information in this respect is present below in
table no.4.9
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Table no.4.9 :- Advertising attributes that impacts in selection of medicines
S. Strongly Strongly
no Attributes Agree Neutral Disagree Total Mean SD
agree disagree
Theme of
Advertisement 118 103 65 37 6 329
1 2.12 1.077
influence me to buy (35.9%) (31.3%) (19.8%) (11.2%) (1.8%) (100%)
the products
Visual presentation of
110 75 85 38 21 329
2 advertisement create 2.35 1.230
(33.4%) (22.8%) (25.8%) (11.6%) (6.4%) (100%)
more attention
Strength of Medicines
in advertisement is 93 75 90 54 17 329
3 2.47 1.207
also a influencing (28.3%) (22.8%) (27.4%) (16.4%) (5.2%) (100%)
factor
In Advertisement,
Dosage form (tablet,
44 59 78 96 52 329
4 capsule, liquid etc) 3.16 1.272
(13.4%) (17.9%) (23.7%) (29.2%) (15.8%) (100%)
also helps me to buy
the particular medicine
Pharmaceutical
advertisement done by
43 39 59 86 102 329
5 celebrities motivate 3.50 1.377
(13.1%) (11.9%) (17.9%) (26.1%) (31.0%) (100%)
me to purchase the
medicine
a) Theme of advertisement :- The study indicates that about 35.9% respondent are
strongly agree that theme of advertisement influence him to buy the products.
Similarly 31.3% respondent are agree that theme of advertisement influence him to
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buy the products and 19.8 % respondent are neutral about theme of advertisement
influence him to buy the products.Further more 11.20% respondent are disagree that
theme of advertisement influence him to buy the products and only 1.8% respondent
are strongly disagree that theme of advertisement influence him to buy the products.
The mean value and standard deviation of this attributes are 2.12 and 1.077
respectively.
b) Visual presentation:- The study indicates that about 33.4 % respondent are strongly
22.8% respondent are agree that Visual presentation of advertisement create more
advertisement create more attention. Further more 11.60% respondent are disagree
that Visual presentation of advertisement create more attention and only 6.40%
respondent are strongly disagree that Visual presentation of advertisement create more
attention. The mean value and standard deviation of this attributes are 2.35 and 1.230
respectively.
c) Strength of Medicines :- The study indicates that about 28.3 % respondent are
also a influencing factor and 27.4 % respondent are neutral about Strength of
advertisement is also a influencing factor. The mean value and standard deviation of
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d) Dosage form (tablet, capsule, liquid etc):- The study indicates that about 13.4 %
respondent are strongly agree that In Advertisement, Dosage form (tablet, capsule,
liquid etc) also helps me to buy the particular medicine. Similarly 17.9 % respondent
are agree that In Advertisement, Dosage form (tablet, capsule, liquid etc) also helps
me to buy the particular medicine and 23.7 % respondent are neutral about In
Advertisement, Dosage form (tablet, capsule, liquid etc) also helps me to buy the
Advertisement, Dosage form (tablet, capsule, liquid etc) also helps me to buy the
particular medicine and only 15.8% respondent are strongly disagree that In
Advertisement, Dosage form (tablet, capsule, liquid etc) also helps me to buy the
particular medicine. The mean value and standard deviation of this attributes are 3.16
e) Role of celebrities:- The study indicates that about 13.1% respondent are strongly
advertisement done by celebrities motivate him to purchase the medicine and 17.9%
motivate him to purchase the medicine.Further more 26.10% respondent are disagree
value and standard deviation of this attributes are 3.50 and 1.377 respectively. The
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4.10 Demographic Characteristics of Respondents (Doctors):-
consumer i.e. the patients are not the target audience, whereas the physicians
prescribing the medicines are the target audience of the pharmaceutical companies. It
is the doctor who makes the decision on behalf of the patient. Physicians are
privileged with the right of recognizing the need of their patients and recommend
medications for the well-being of their patients. Hence, the relation between the
physician and pharmaceutical companies may create a conflict between the ethical
incentives to attract the doctors prescription behaviour reflects as a rise in the price of
product. Giving away gifts, free lunches, sponsoring education and holidays have all
basis.
The increased expenditure for drug promotion will affect the price of the prescription
drugs and this in turn will have an adverse impact on the expenses on health care. In
India same molecules are sold by different pharmaceuticals under different brand
names. To cite an example: there are over hundred and forty brands of omeprazole, a
proton pump inhibitor, available in India. How does a doctor select a brand? What are
the factors that influence the prescription behaviour of the doctor? What is the
When the physician listens to the detailing by a sales person and later accepts the gifts
established. This puts the doctor under some obligation to prescribe the brands that
are promoted. The time spent with sales personnel is associated with some benefits to
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the doctor like getting information and free samples but it takes away the physicians
valuable time. The time, spend with the sales personnel should be valued against the
monetary or leisure benefits gained in that time. The physician could have utilized the
time for leisure activities, gained monetary benefits through consulting patients or
even improve his/her knowledge by keeping up-to-date with the literature. Samples
left by the sales personnel may be the only reminder to the product long after the
information about the drug it produces, but it should do so in a fair, accurate, and
ethical manner. The blurring boundaries of what constitutes fair practices are of
Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 and by The Drugs and
Cosmetics Rules, 1945 . These acts provide for the consistency of the advertisements
requirements.
The purpose of the Act is to control advertisements of drugs in certain cases and to
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to this Act, advertisement includes any notice, circular, label, wrapper or other
transmitting light, sound or smoke. The term drug would include medicines for
that would influence the structure or organic function of the body of human beings or
animals other than food and any article used as a component of any medicine
substance. Magic remedy would include any talisman, mantra, kavacha and any other
charm which claims to possess miraculous powers in relation to the diagnosis, cure,
function of the body.The table below provides an overview of the key promotion
1 PharmaceuticalAdvertisements Brochures
Sponsored articles
Internet
or textbooks
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S.no Type Example
3 Trade promotion Gifts
Gimmicks and incentive schemes based
on number of prescriptions
Product samples
4 Sponsorship Academic activities
Symposiums
Exhibition booths
Registration fees
Tutoring sessions
Journal clubs
Free textbooks and journal subscriptions
Non-academic activities
Entertainment
Excursions
Travelling expenses
Meals
Family-related activities
Donations or support for facilities used
in offices i.e. fax machine, printer,
furniture, etc.
Over the counter drugs can be sold directly to the consumers / patients without any
doctor's prescription. On the other hand, Prescription drugs are the drugs which are
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practice,practice hour & O.P.D frequency etc.Keeping this into consideration,an
qualification.For this purpose, respondents included in the sample were classified into
The analysis of data indicates that 89.33% of respondent are in the qualification of
(MBBS). The analysis clearly reflects that the sample is dominated by those
The different position hold by doctor also having a different prescription behaviour
hold by doctors. Keeping this into consideration an attempt was made to classify
doctors (respondents) on the basis of the Position hold by respondents. For this
purpose ,respondents included in the sample were classified into four categories
on the basis of Position hold by respondents is presented below in table no. 4.10.2
S.
Senior resident/
4 Professor/Teacher 3 2.00
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Fig 4.22 :- Classification on the basis of Position hold by respondents
The analysis of data indicates that 90.00% of respondent hold the position of Junior
officer in Hospital and 3.33% of respondent hold the position of senior resident/Super
Professor/Teacher. The analysis clearly reflects that the sample is dominated by those
behaviour. The doctor having high no. years of practice generally know the prons and
attempt was made to classify doctors (respondents) on the basis of No. of years of
practice. For this purpose ,respondents included in the sample were classified into
four groups which included those 0-2 years of practice, 2-5 years of practice, 5-10
years of practice & more than 10 years of practice. The information about
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Table no.4.10.3 :- Classification on the basis of No. of years of practice
respondent having 5-10 years of practice. The analysis clearly reflects that the sample
medicine to the medicine and pharmaceutical company also make their advertising
Keeping this into consideration an attempt was made to classify doctors (respondents)
on the basis of regional status of practice . For this purpose ,respondents included in
the sample were classified into three groups i) whose regional status of practice is in
rural area,ii) whose regional status of practice is in semi urban area & iii) whose
regional status of practice is in urban area. The information about classification on the
no.4.10.4
1 Rural 10 6.67
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The analysis projects that 74.67 % of doctors having regional status of practice is
and 6.67 % of doctors having regional status of practice is rural. The analysis clearly
reflects that the sample is dominated by those doctors whose regional status of
practice is urban.
doctors because during practice hour or clinic time medical representative routinely
detail doctors, seeking them out for direct interaction to provide product information,
and to use these visits as an opportunity to build product name recognition and
increase market share. Keeping this into consideration an attempt was made to
classify doctors (respondents) on the basis of practice hours . For this purpose
,respondents included in the sample were classified into four groups: i) whose
practice houre is 4 hrs ,ii) whose practice houre is 6 hrs iii) whose practice houre is 8
hrs & iv) whose practice houre is round the clock (24 hrs) hrs. The information about
1 4 hrs 4 2.67
2 6 hrs 84 56.00
3 8 hrs. 51 34.00
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Fig 4.25 :- Classification on the basis of Practice Hours
The analysis projects that 56 % of doctors having practice hours is 6 hrs . Similarly
34% % of doctors having practice hours is 8hrs and 7.33 % of doctors having
practice hours is 4 hrs. Further more 2.67 % of doctors having practice hours is Round
the clock (24 hrs) The analysis clearly reflects that the sample is dominated by those
activity of pharmaceutical sales representatives when they make calls to physicians and
provide them with "details approved scientific information, benefits, side effects, or adverse
events related to a drug. Pharmaceutical companies make their advertising strategy on the
basis of O.P.D frequency also. Keeping this into consideration an attempt was made to
respondents included in the sample were classified into five groups : i) whose O.P.D
frequency is <15 ii) whose O.P.D frequency is in between 15 to 25 iii) whose O.P.D
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v) whose O.P.D frequency is > 54. The information about classification on the basis
The analysis projects that 38% of doctors having O.P.D frequency between 15 to 25.
having O.P.D frequency >54 and 2 % of doctors having O.P.D frequency <15. The
analysis clearly reflects that the sample is dominated by those doctors whose OPD
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4.11 Impact of Pharmaceutical Advertisement on doctor's Presrcription
Behaviour :
inform him or her of the amazing and different attributes of the product at hand. To
is used. This analysis was carried out on the data collected from questionnaire in
which the doctor were asked to tick a number that was most suitable to their choice
strongly agree to strongly disagree for 27 items. The mean & standard deviation for
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S.No Items Mean Std. Deviation
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S.No Items Mean Std. Deviation
The result indicates that the highest score of doctor opinion that "clinical papers"
Electronic Media (1.81) scored the lowest followed by Medical Representative are
overall mean score of all the 27 items of attitude towards prescription behavior was
2.96 and standard deviation 0.9091. This indicates that pharmaceutical advertisement
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pharmaceutical advertisement study. The above mentioned statements having five
point Likert scales were subjected to factor analysis. Before the application of factor
analysis the following five techniques were also used for the analysis of data. (1) The
correlation matrix revealed that there is a strong positive correlation between the
appropriate for factor analysis procedure. (2) After correlation matrix, anti correlation
matrix was also constructed. This matrix shows that partial correlations among the
statements are low for example anti- image correlation of statement 1 with respect to
statements 1 to 27. Similarly most of the off diagonal elements are small indicating
that real factors exist in the data which is necessary for factor analysis. (3) Kaiser
partial correlation matrix. It is clear that all of the diagonal elements of partial
correlation matrix were sufficiently high for factor analysis. (4) Test of sampling
adequacy was then performed. Sum of the values of diagonal elements of partial
correlation matrix from statement no. 1 to 27 was 0.665. This shows that statements
are good enough for sampling. (5) Bartletts Test of Sphericity was also conducted to
check the overall significance of the correlation matrices. The value of Kaiser-Meyer-
Sphericity was significant and it is indicating that correlation matrix is not an identity
matrix.
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Fig 4.27 :- Scree plot
Scree Plot: This scree plot determined the eigenvalues of 27 factors of the factors of
pharmaceutical advertisement and for the purpose of this study, the researcher
analysis was employed for extracting factors and orthogonal rotation with Varimax
Statements Factor-1 Factor-2 Factor-3 Factor-4 Factor-5 Communalities
10 0.09 0.101 0.119 -0.041 -0.453 0.239
11 0.129 0.69 -0.376 0.228 0.043 0.688
12 0.159 0.071 -0.108 -0.026 0.448 0.244
13 -0.309 0.833 0.232 -0.063 -0.045 0.849
14 -0.204 0.792 0.321 0.061 -0.044 0.777
15 -0.076 0.737 0.012 0 -0.033 0.55
16 -0.17 0.818 0.092 0.016 -0.027 0.708
17 -0.172 0.128 0.15 -0.406 0.527 0.511
18 0.537 -0.163 -0.611 0.05 0.15 0.714
19 -0.198 -0.05 -0.052 0.398 -0.05 0.206
20 0.761 0.044 0.341 0.272 -0.076 0.778
21 0.544 0.082 0.077 -0.519 -0.004 0.579
22 0.422 0.048 0.287 -0.538 0.193 0.493
23 0.57 0.177 0.396 -0.026 0.035 0.515
24 -0.043 -0.04 -0.264 -0.455 0.065 0.284
25 -0.765 -0.102 -0.147 0.033 0.108 0.63
26 0.687 -0.053 0.269 0.261 -0.086 0.623
27 -0.156 -0.146 0.515 0.497 0.46 0.769
Explanation of Variance: Total variance has been explained by table no. 4.11.4. As
latent root criterion was used for extraction of factors, only the factors having latent
roots or eigenvalues greater than 1.81 were considered significant; all other factors
with latent roots less 1.75 were considered insignificant and disregarded.
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The Eigen values for factor-1, 2, 3, 4, & 5 are 4.838, 3.652, 2.926, 2.258 and 1.833
12.272, 10.015, and 6.979 respectively. It indicates that five factors extracted from 27
the total variance. This is pretty good bargain, because researcher is able to
economize on the number of variables (from 27 items reduced them into 5 underlying
factors).
Now the role of factor loadings becomes important for interpretation of the factors.
Factor loading represent a correlation between statement no.1 and factor-1. The
criteria given by J. Hair where factor loadings based on sample size are taken as the
This research had 150 respondents as sample, a factor loading of 0.500 has been
considered significant. The Twenty statements no. 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16,
17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, & 27 have high factor loading. Rest of the statements
companies (-0.043) were having factor loading below 0.500 except three items.
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Naming of factors:
After a factor solution has been obtained, all variables have a significant loading on a
factor, the researcher attempt to assign some meaning to the pattern of factor loadings.
Variable with higher loadings are considered more important and have greater
influence on the name or label selected to represent a factor. Researcher examined all
the underlined variables for a particular factor and placed greater emphasis on those
variables with higher loadings to assign a name or label to a factor that accurately
reflected the variables loading on that factor. The names or label is not derived or
assigned by the factor analysis; rather, the label is intuitively developed by the factor
particular factor. All five factors have been given appropriate names on the basis of
Importance of promotional
2 items (Dinner for the physician
and their family) provided by 0.763
companies
0.751
Patient suggestion (demand)
18 influence my prescription
decision 0.537
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Importance of promotional
Factor-1 Detailing 20 items (Lunch for physician and 0.761
staff) provided by companies
Importance of promotional
23 items(Pens/notepads/calendars/e 0.57
tc) provided by companies
Importance of Television/
25 Electronic Media providing
information about medicine -0.765
available for patient in the
market.
26 Importance of promotional
items (Tickets to special 0.687
entertainment events) provided
by companies
Creativity in pharmaceutical
9 advertisement effect my 0.657
prescription decision
Frequency of pharmaceutical
11 advertisement are important 0.690
factor which influence my
prescription decision
0.721
Importance of promotional
13 activities adopted by companies 0.833
in the growth of consumerism
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Factor-2 Advertising
effectiveness 14 Importance of promotional
channel used by companies 0.792
convening information to
consumers
15
Importance of Regulatory Acts
in your prescription 0.737
16
Specialized promotional
channels and programmes are
important in the promotion of 0.818
medicines.
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Importance of Hoardings
4 providing information about 0.547
medicine available for patient in
Factor-5 Informative the market.
0.785
17 Importance of Internet
providing information about
medicine available for patient in 0.527
the market.
(a) Factor-1: Detailing - This factor is most important factor which explained
information about medicine available for patient in the market. (0.649), Importance
of promotional items (Dinner for the physician and their family) provided by
decision (0.537), Importance of promotional items (Lunch for physician and staff)
information about medicine available for patient in the market" (0.544), " Importance
available for patient in the market" (-0.765) , and " Importance of promotional items
correlated with each other. These eight medium of advertisements reflects that
that the physician will prescribe the companys products more often; hence, the
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(b) Factor-2: Advertising effectiveness Second kind of factor explained 13.588%
of the variances. In this segment, researcher took the six important variables such as
(c) Factor-3: Brand positioning - This factor explained 12.272% of the variations.
(0.515). These statements shows promotional items hence researchers named this
available for patient in the market (-0.538), statements shows influence for
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medicine available for patient in the market (0.527) .These statements show
Reliability and validity of the construct: The analysis began with measuring
the reliability of the advertisements construct. First of all, internal reliability of the
scale (27 items) was examined using Cronbachs alpha coefficient. Value of the
reliability are 0.7 and above as an indicator of good reliability. This pharmaceutical
advertisement research has been found value of Cronbachs alpha coefficient greater
than 0.700 which is good. After that convergent validity can be assessed from the
likelihood loading on the underlying construct is significant. In the table 4.11.3 all
factor loading exceed 0.500 except seven items. This shows evidence of convergence
validity of this research. Composite reliability coefficients for each construct are also
finding out. Composite reliability should be greater than 0.7 to indicate reliable
factors (Hair et. al., 2011). This research study showed that composite reliability
coefficient are greater than 0.7 indicating reliability of all 27 items. Now, composite
reliability, variance extracted and Cronbachs alpha coefficient values for all 27 items
greatly exceeded the minimum acceptable values. This research indicated that
measures were free from error and therefore yielding very consistent results. These
tests showed that our data are reliable and valid for this research.
In the 21st century, media such as television, print and radio attract the public by
has become an essential marketing activity in the modern era of large scale production
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which provide information about medicine available for patient in the market.
Keeping this into consideration an attempt was made to find out the importance of
Respondents were asked to rate statements concerning theeir views on 5 point scale
ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. The higher the number ,the greater
medicine available for patient in the market:- The study indicates that only 1.3%
respondent are strongly agree that Medical representative play important role in
providing information about medicine available for patient in the market. Similarly
17.3% respondent are agree that Medical representative play important role in
providing information about medicine available for patient in the market and 35.3 %
providing information about medicine available for patient in the market.Further more
38.70% are disagree that Medical representative play important role in providing
information about medicine available for patient in the market and 7.3% respondent
are strongly disagree that Medical representative play important role in providing
information about medicine available for patient in the market. The mean value and
respectively.As revealed from the mean score, respondent disagree (3.13) on the fact
available for patient in the market:- The study indicates that only 2.7% respondent
are strongly agree that Medical journals play important role in providing information
about medicine available for patient in the market. Similarly 8.00 % respondent are
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agree that Medical journals play important role in providing information about
medicine available for patient in the market and 9.3 % respondent are undecided that
available for patient in the market.Further more 34.7% are disagree that Medical
journals play important role in providing information about medicine available for
patient in the market and 45.3% respondent are strongly disagree that Medical
journals play important role in providing information about medicine available for
patient in the market. The mean value and standard deviation of this medium of
advertisement are 4.12 and 1.049 respectively. As revealed from the mean score,
respondent strongly disagree (4.12) on the fact that Medical journals play important
role in providing information about medicine available for patient in the market
available for patient in the market:- The study indicates that no any respondent
are strongly agree that Clinical papers play important role in providing information
about medicine available for patient in the market. Similarly 5.30 % respondent are
agree that Clinical papers play important role in providing information about
medicine available for patient in the market and 4.0 % respondent are undecided that
Clinical papers play important role in providing information about medicine available
for patient in the market.Further more 42.7 % are disagree that Clinical papers play
important role in providing information about medicine available for patient in the
market and 48% respondent are strongly disagree that Clinical papers play important
role in providing information about medicine available for patient in the market. The
mean value and standard deviation of this medium of advertisement are 4.33 and
0.791 respectively. As revealed from the mean score, respondent strongly disagree
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(4.33) on the fact that Clinical papers play important role in providing information
about medicine available for patient in the market:- The study indicates that
37.3% respondent are strongly agree that Television/Electronic play important role in
providing information about medicine available for patient in the market. Similarly
providing information about medicine available for patient in the market and 6.7 %
information about medicine available for patient in the market.Further more 2 % are
about medicine available for patient in the market and 2.7% respondent are strongly
about medicine available for patient in the market. The mean value and standard
revealed from the mean score, respondent strongly agree (1.81) on the fact that
for patient in the market:- The study indicates that 13.1% respondent are strongly
agree that Internet play important role in providing information about medicine
available for patient in the market. Similarly 11.9% respondent are agree that Internet
play important role in providing information about medicine available for patient in
the market and 17.9% respondent are undecided that Internet play important role in
providing information about medicine available for patient in the market.Further more
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26.1 % are disagree that Internet play important role in providing information about
medicine available for patient in the market and 31% respondent are strongly disagree
that Internet play important role in providing information about medicine available
for patient in the market. The mean value and standard deviation of this medium of
advertisement are 2.77 and 1.064 respectively. As revealed from the mean score,
respondent agree (2.77) on the fact that that Internet play important role in providing
available for patient in the market:- The study indicates that 2% respondent are
strongly agree that Hoardings play important role in providing information about
medicine available for patient in the market. Similarly 33.3% respondent are agree
that Hoardings play important role in providing information about medicine available
for patient in the market and 6.7% respondent are undecided that Hoardings play
important role in providing information about medicine available for patient in the
market.Further more 52.7 % are disagree that Hoardings play important role in
providing information about medicine available for patient in the market and 17.3%
respondent are strongly disagree that Hoardings play important role in providing
information about medicine available for patient in the market. The mean value and
standard deviation of this medium of advertisement are 3.55 and 1.190 respectively.
As revealed from the mean score, respondent disagree (3.55) on the fact that
Hoardings play important role in providing information about medicine available for
information about medicine available for patient in the market:- The study
indicates that 8.7% respondent are strongly agree that Specific Seminars conducted
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by companies play important role in providing information about medicine available
for patient in the market. Similarly 14.7% respondent are agree that Specific
about medicine available for patient in the market and 46 % respondent are undecided
information about medicine available for patient in the market.Further more 16.7 %
are disagree that Specific Seminars conducted by companies play important role in
providing information about medicine available for patient in the market and 2%
respondent are strongly disagree that Specific Seminars conducted by companies play
important role in providing information about medicine available for patient in the
market. The mean value and standard deviation of this medium of advertisement are
2.83 and 0.798 respectively. As revealed from the mean score, respondent agree
(2.83) on the fact that Hoardings play important role in providing information about
medicine available for patient in the market has scored lowest mean as compared to
physicians with good information about drug indication and weak information about
drug contraindications and side effects. There are many tactics that were adopted by
.However physician targeted promotion is the most common tactic in this regard,
since physicians have the largest power to shift prescribing from one company to
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another. There is a debate about the accuracy and reliability of information that was
Keeping this into consideration an attempt was made to find out reliability of
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The analysis of data indicates-
The study indicates that only 2.7% respondent are strongly agree that information
medicines are reliable and 64.7% respondent are undecided about information
are disagree that information provided by Medical representative for medicines are
reliable and 7.3% respondent are strongly disagree information provided by Medical
representative for medicines are reliable. The mean value and standard deviation of
this medium of advertisement are 3.13 and 0.895 respectively. As revealed from the
mean score, respondent disagree (3.13) on the fact that information provided by
study indicates that only 72% respondent are strongly agree that information provided
by Medical Journals for medicines are reliable. Similarly 25% respondent are agree
medicines are reliable.Further more 15% are disagree that information provided by
Medical Journals for medicines are reliable and no any respondent are strongly
disagree that information provided by Medical Journals for medicines are reliable.
The mean value and standard deviation of this medium of advertisement are 1.49 and
0.939 respectively. As revealed from the mean score, respondent agree (1.49) on the
fact that information provided by Medical Journals for medicines are reliable.
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c) Reliability of information provided by Clinical papers about medicines:- The
study indicates that only 75.3% respondent are strongly agree that information
provided by Clinical papers for medicines are reliable. Similarly 9.3% respondent are
agree that information provided by Clinical papers for medicines are reliable and 2.7
medicines are reliable.Further more 12.7% are disagree that information provided by
Clinical papers for medicines are reliable and no any respondent are strongly disagree
that information provided by Clinical papers for medicines are reliable. The mean
value and standard deviation of this medium of advertisement are 1.53 and 1.034
respectively. As revealed from the mean score, respondent agree (1.53) on the fact
medicines:- The study indicates that no any respondent are strongly agree that
Television/Electronic Media for medicines are reliable and 7.3 % respondent are
Teleivision/Electronic Media for medicines are reliable and 22% respondent are
are reliable. The mean value and standard deviation of this medium of advertisement
are 3.82 and 0.863 respectively. As revealed from the mean score, respondent
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e) Reliability of information provided by Internet about medicines:- The study
indicates that no any respondent are strongly agree that information provided by
Internet for medicines are reliable. Similarly 11.3% respondent are agree that
information provided by Internet for medicines are reliable and 38.7 % respondent are
more 34% are disagree that information provided by Internet for medicines are
reliable and 16% respondent are strongly disagree information provided by Internet
for medicines are reliable. The mean value and standard deviation of this medium of
advertisement are 3.74 and 2.640 respectively. As revealed from the mean score,
respondent disagree (3.74) on the fact that information provided by Internet for
indicates that no any respondent are strongly agree that information provided by
Hoardings for medicines are reliable. Similarly 8% respondent are agree that
information provided by Hoardings for medicines are reliable and 5.3 % respondent
reliable.Further more 48.7% are disagree that information provided by Hoardings for
medicines are reliable and 38% respondent are strongly disagree information provided
by Hoardings for medicines are reliable. The mean value and standard deviation of
this medium of advertisement are 4.17 and 0.855 respectively. As revealed from the
mean score, respondent strongly disagree (4.17) on the fact that information provided
companies about medicines:- The study indicates that only 2.7% respondent are
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companies for medicines are reliable. Similarly 50% respondent are agree that
Seminars conducted by companies for medicines are reliable.Further more 8.7% are
medicines are reliable and 2.7% respondent are strongly disagree information
The mean value and standard deviation of this medium of advertisement are 2.59 and
0.796 respectively. As revealed from the mean score ,respondent agree (2.59) on the
medicines are reliable .The analysis indicates that information provided Medical
journals for medicines are reliable has scored lowest mean as compared to all other
distributors, the effect of which is to induce the prescription, supply, purchase and/or
adequately trained and possess sufficient medical and technical knowledge to present
information about the products in an accurate and responsible manner. The medical
representative (MRs) should not only be able to provide accurate information, but
should also not to exaggerate the capabilities of the product . To support their sales
activity, these sales agents acquire and use detailed personal information on doctors
such as names of family members, golf handicaps, and even clothing preferences;
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along with what prescriptions the doctor is writing. Doctors can receive small gifts,
such as free dinners, event or travel tickets, clocks, free drug samples by Medical
whether the MRs are visited to doctor clinic during practice hour. The information
about visit of MRs during practice hours visited per day are presented below in table
no 4.14
The analysis of data indicated that 78% of respondent agreed that MRs are visited in
clinic during their practice hours and 22% of respondent disagreed that MRs are
frequency of MRs visited per day in clinic during practice hour are given below
4.14.1
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Table-4.14.1:- Frequency of MR Visited per day
The analysis of data indicated that 36.7% of respondent agreed that < 5 MRs are
visited in clinic during their practice hours and 63.3% of respondent agreed that 5-10
refers to people who are hired by pharmaceutical companies based on some specific
criteria suitable for working as seller. They interact with doctor through activities of
providing drugs information and persuading to use their drugs. Printed product
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literatures, drug samples and gifts are supporting tools for their work. Medical
practices; they also offer incentives including conference, Seminars, national and
aboard sponsorship. So it is necessary to find out how much doctor agreed to Medical
The study indicates that only 11.33% respondent are strongly agree that Medical
Similarly 68.67% respondent are agree that Medical Representative act as a key
element for providing information about medicines and 17.33% respondent are
about medicines.Further more 2.67% are disagree that Medical Representative act as
a key element for providing information about medicines and no any respondent are
strongly disagree that Medical Representative act as a key element for providing
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element for providing information about medicines is 2.11. As revealed from the
mean score ,respondent agree (2.11) on the fact that Medical Representative act as a
The interaction between physicians and the pharmaceutical industry can be viewed in
terms of supply and demand. The pharmaceutical industry has the money, which it
free drug samples, and funding for continuing medical education.To know the
importance of promotional items for doctors an attempt was made to know whether
these promotional items provided by companies are important for them to prescribe
the medicine . The information about Importance of promotional items /other facilities
distributed / provided by companies for doctors are presented below in table no 4.16
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Fig 4.32: Importance of promotional items
a) Importance of free samples as promotional items:- The study indicates that only
7.3% respondent are strongly agree that free samples are important promotional items
for prescription of medicines. Similarly 24% respondent are agree that free samples
are important promotional items for prescription of medicines and 56.7 % respondent
are undecided about free samples are important promotional items for prescription of
medicines.Further more 8.7% are disagree that free samples are important
promotional items for prescription of medicines and 3.3% respondent are strongly
disagree that free samples are important promotional items for prescription of
medicines. The mean value and standard deviation of this medium of advertisement
are 2.77 and 0.839 respectively. As revealed from the mean score, respondent agree
(2.77) on the fact that free samples are important promotional items for prescription of
medicines
only 5.3% respondent are strongly agree that Trips to seminar are important
promotional items for prescription of medicines. Similarly 36% respondent are agree
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that Trips to seminar are important promotional items for prescription of medicines
and 44 % respondent are undecided about Trips to seminar are important promotional
items for prescription of medicines.Further more 11.3% are disagree that Trips to
seminar are important promotional items for prescription of medicines and 3.3%
respondent are strongly disagree that Trips to seminar are important promotional
items for prescription of medicines. The mean value and standard deviation of this
medium of advertisement are 2.71 and 0.862 respectively. As revealed from the mean
score, respondent agree (2.71) on the fact that Trips to seminar are important
indicates that only 3.3% respondent are strongly agree that Pens /Note pads/calendars
etc are important promotional items for prescription of medicines. Similarly 16.7%
respondent are agree that Pens /Note pads/calendars etc are important promotional
items for prescription of medicines and 11.3 % respondent are undecided about Pens
medicines.Further more 18% are disagree that Pens /Note pads/calendars etc are
important promotional items for prescription of medicines and 50.7% respondent are
strongly disagree that Pens /Note pads/calendars etc are important promotional items
for prescription of medicines. The mean value and standard deviation of this medium
of advertisement are 3.96 and 1.263 respectively. As revealed from the mean score,
respondent disagree (3.96) on the fact that Pens /Note pads/calendars etc are
d) Importance of Lunch for physician and staff as promotional items:- The study
indicates that only 6% respondent are strongly agree that Lunch for physician and
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respondent are agree that Lunch for physician and staff are important promotional
items for prescription of medicines and 24.7 % respondent are undecided about Lunch
for physician and staff are important promotional items for prescription of
medicines.Further more 32.7% are disagree that Lunch for physician and staff are
important promotional items for prescription of medicines and 26.7% respondent are
strongly disagree that Lunch for physician and staff are important promotional items
for prescription of medicines. The mean value and standard deviation of this medium
of advertisement are 3.64 and 1.154 respectively. As revealed from the mean score ,
respondent disagree (3.64) on the fact that Lunch for physician and staff are important
study indicates that only 8% respondent are strongly agree that Tickets to special
Similarly 12.7 % respondent are agree that Tickets to special entertainment events are
important promotional items for prescription of medicines and 36.7 % respondent are
items for prescription of medicines.Further more 19.3% are disagree that Tickets to
medicines and 23.3% respondent are strongly disagree that Tickets to special
The mean value and standard deviation of this medium of advertisement are 3.37 and
1.201 respectively. As revealed from the mean score, respondent disagree (3.37) on
the fact that Tickets to special entertainment events are important promotional items
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f) Importance of Dinner for the physician and their family as promotional items:-
The study indicates that only 6.7% respondent are strongly agree that Dinner for the
physician and their family are important promotional items for prescription of
medicines. Similarly 6.7 % respondent are agree that Dinner for the physician and
their family are important promotional items for prescription of medicines and 32.7 %
respondent are undecided about Dinner for the physician and their family are
disagree that Dinner for the physician and their family are important promotional
items for prescription of medicines and 27.3% respondent are strongly disagree that
Dinner for the physician and their family are important promotional items for
prescription of medicines. The mean value and standard deviation of this medium of
advertisement are 3.61 and 1.152 respectively. As revealed from the mean score ,
respondent disagree (3.61) on the fact that Dinner for the physician and their family
companies may effect doctor on their prescription decision. To know the effectivness
made to know whether information provided by companies may effect the doctor to
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Table-4.17: Effectiveness of information provided through different media
indicates that no any respondent are strongly agree that information provided by
34.7% respondent are agree that information provided by Medical representative may
effect doctor to their prescription decision and 41.3 % respondent are undecided that
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information provided by Medical representative may effect doctor to their prescription
representative may effect doctor to their prescription decision and no any respondent
are strongly disagree that information provided by Medical representative may effect
doctor to their prescription decision. The mean value and standard deviation of this
medium of advertisement are 2.89 and 0.761 respectively.As revealed from the mean
score, respondent agree (2.89) on the fact that information provided by Medical
that 24% respondent are strongly agree that information provided by Medical
journals may effect doctor to their prescription decision. Similarly 61.3% respondent
are agree that information provided by Medical journals may effect doctor to their
prescription decision and 8.7 % respondent are undecided that information provided
are disagree that information provided by Medical journals may effect doctor to their
prescription decision and no any respondent are strongly disagree that information
provided by Medical journals may effect doctor to their prescription decision. The
mean value and standard deviation of this medium of advertisement are 1.97 and
0.755 respectively.As revealed from the mean score, respondent agree (1.97) on the
fact that information provided by Medical journal may effect doctor to their
prescription decision.
26% respondent are strongly agree that information provided by clinical papers may
effect doctor to their prescription decision.Similarly 59.3% respondent are agree that
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decision and 8.7 % respondent are undecided that information provided by clinical
papers may effect doctor to their prescription decision.Further more 6% are disagree
that information provided by clinical papers may effect doctor to their prescription
decision and no any respondent are strongly disagree that information provided by
clinical papers may effect doctor to their prescription decision. The mean value and
standard deviation of this medium of advertisement are 1.95 and 0.767 respectively.
As revealed from the mean score, respondent agree (1.95) on the fact that information
indicates that no any respondent are strongly agree that information provided by
may effect doctor to their prescription decision and 6.9% respondent are undecided
Television/Electronic media may effect doctor to their prescription decision and 14%
media may effect doctor to their prescription decision. The mean value and standard
revealed from the mean score, respondent disagree (3.81) on the fact that information
decision.
respondent are strongly agree that information provided by Internet may effect doctor
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provided by Internet may effect doctor to their prescription decision and 50%
respondent are undecided that information provided by Internet may effect doctor to
their prescription decision.Further more 36.7% are disagree that information provided
by Internet may effect doctor to their prescription decision and 4.7% respondent are
strongly disagree that information provided by Internet may effect doctor to their
prescription decision. The mean value and standard deviation of this medium of
advertisement are 3.37 and 0.710 respectively. As revealed from the mean score,
respondent disagree (3.37) on the fact that information provided by Internet may
any respondent are strongly agree that information provided by Hoardings may effect
and 6.7% respondent are undecided that information provided by Hoardings may
effect doctor to their prescription decision.Further more 48.7% are disagree that
and 32.7% respondent are strongly disagree that information provided by Hoardings
may effect doctor to their prescription decision. The mean value and standard
revealed from the mean score, respondent disagree (4.02) on the fact that information
The study indicates that no any respondent are strongly agree that information
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by specific seminars held by companies may effect doctor to their prescription
decision and 6.7% respondent are undecided that information provided by specific
more 48.7% are disagree that information provided by specific seminars held by
companies may effect doctor to their prescription decision and 32.7% respondent are
may effect doctor to their prescription decision. The mean value and standard
revealed from the mean score, respondent agree (2.67) on the fact that information
prescription decision.
Physicians believe that patients understand that they need to consult a health care
possesses full responsibility of deciding whether a drug is right for their patients. It is
helpful in many situations to change the current practices. On the other hand, a
medical representative will be able to change the practices from one visit only. The
information to the target auditorium. The promotional message meets the needs of
prescribers (as well as other stakeholders) for appropriate information, and its content
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becomes the basic element of understanding promotion in the market. Regarding
channels to make the long lasting effect on the doctor mind about prescription
medicines . But it is not possible that all promotional channel make their impact on
doctor mind .So it is necessary to find out the most suitable promotional channel that
make their long lasting effect on doctor because these long lasting effect may reflects
during the prescription of medicines.An attempt was made to know about promotional
channels used by companies and their long lasting effect on the mind of doctors.The
Medical 14 20 34 33 49 150
1 2.40 1.221
Representative (9.3%) (13.3%) (22.7%) (22%) (32.7%) (100%)
10 19 38 33 50 150
2 Clinical Paper 3.63 1.251
(6.7%) (12.7%) (25.3%) (22%) (33.3%) (100%)
Medical 14 20 34 33 49 150
3 3.55 1.319
Journals (9.3%) (13.3%) (22.7%) (22%) (32.7%) (100%)
Television 42 46 10 41 11 150
4 2.55 1.344
advertisement (28%) (30.7%) (6.7%) (27.3%) (7.3%) (100%)
1 5 57 71 16 150
5 Internet 3.64 0.744
(0.7%) (3.3%) (38%) (47.3%) (10.7%) (100%)
5 13 53 40 39 150
6 Hoarding 3.63 1.064
(3.3%) (8.7%) (35.3%) (26.7%) (26%) (100%)
Specific
14 65 54 10 7 150
7 Seminars held 2.54 0.924
(9.3%) (43.3%) (36%) (6.7%) (4.7%) (100%)
by companies
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Fig 4.34: Importance of promotional channels used by companies and their long
lasting effect on the mind of doctors
a) Importance of medical representative as promotional channel and their long
lasting effect:- The study indicates that 9.3% respondent are strongly agree that
Medical representative as promotional channel make long lasting effect on their mind.
channel make long lasting effect on their mind and 22.7 % respondent are undecided
that Medical representative as promotional channel make long lasting effect on their
promotional channel make long lasting effect on their mind and 32.7% respondent
are strongly disagree that Medical representative as promotional channel make long
lasting effect on their mind. The mean value and standard deviation of this
promotional channel are 2.40 and 1.221 respectively. As revealed from the mean
score, respondent agree (2.40) on the fact that Medical representative as promotional
effect:- The study indicates that 6.7% respondent are strongly agree that Clinical
paper as promotional channel make long lasting effect on their mind .Similarly 12.7%
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respondent are agree that Clinical paper as promotional channel make long lasting
effect on their mind and 25.3 % respondent are undecided that Clinical paper as
promotional channel make long lasting effect on their mind.Further more 22%
respondent are disagree that Clinical paper as promotional channel make long lasting
effect on their mind and 33.3% respondent are strongly disagree that Clinical paper
as promotional channel make long lasting effect on their mind. The mean value and
standard deviation of this promotional channel are 3.63 and 1.251 respectively.As
revealed from the mean score, respondent disagree (3.63) on the fact that clinical
effect:- The study indicates that 9.3% respondent are strongly agree that Medical
Journals as promotional channel make long lasting effect on their mind . Similarly
13.3% respondent are agree that Medical Journals as promotional channel make long
lasting effect on their mind and 22.7% respondent are undecided that Medical
Journals as promotional channel make long lasting effect on their mind.Further more
22% respondent are disagree that Medical Journals as promotional channel make long
lasting effect on their mind and 32.7% respondent are strongly disagree that Medical
Journals as promotional channel make long lasting effect on their mind. The mean
value and standard deviation of this promotional channel are 3.55 and 1.319
respectively.As revealed from the mean score, respondent disagree (3.55) on the fact
that Medical Journals as promotional channel make long lasting effect on their mind.
lasting effect:- The study indicates that 28% respondent are strongly agree that
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promotional channel make long lasting effect on their mind and 6.7% respondent are
effect on their mind.Further more 27.3% respondent are disagree that Television
advertisement as promotional channel make long lasting effect on their mind and
channel make long lasting effect on their mind. The mean value and standard
deviation of this promotional channel are 2.55 and 1.344 respectively. As revealed
from the mean score, respondent agree (2.55) on the fact that Television
The study indicates that only 0.7% respondent are strongly agree that Internet as
promotional channel make long lasting effect on their mind . Similarly 3.3%
respondent are agree that Internet as promotional channel make long lasting effect on
their mind and 38% respondent are undecided that Internet as promotional channel
make long lasting effect on their mind.Further more 47.3% respondent are disagree
that Internet as promotional channel make long lasting effect on their mind and 10.7%
respondent are strongly disagree that Internet as promotional channel make long
lasting effect on their mind. The mean value and standard deviation of this
promotional channel are 3.64 and 0.744 respectively. As revealed from the mean
score, respondent disagree (3.64) on the fact that Internet as promotional channel
The study indicates that only 3.3% respondent are strongly agree that Hoardings as
promotional channel make long lasting effect on their mind. Similarly 8.7%
respondent are agree that Hoardings as promotional channel make long lasting effect
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on their mind and 35.3% respondent are undecided that Hoardings as promotional
channel make long lasting effect on their mind.Further more 26.7% respondent are
disagree that Hoardings as promotional channel make long lasting effect on their mind
and 26% respondent are strongly disagree that Hoardings as promotional channel
make long lasting effect on their mind. The mean value and standard deviation of this
promotional channel are 3.63 and 1.064 respectively. As revealed from the mean
score, respondent disagree (3.63) on the fact that Hoardings as promotional channel
their long lasting effect:- The study indicates that only 3.3% respondent are strongly
agree that Specific Seminars held by companies as promotional channel make long
lasting effect on their mind . Similarly 8.7% respondent are agree that Specific
Seminars held by companies as promotional channel make long lasting effect on their
mind and 35.3% respondent are undecided that Specific Seminars held by companies
as promotional channel make long lasting effect on their mind.Further more 26.7%
channel make long lasting effect on their mind and 26% respondent are strongly
disagree that Specific Seminars held by companies as promotional channel make long
lasting effect on their mind. The mean value and standard deviation of this
promotional channel are 2.54 and 0.924 respectively. As revealed from the mean
score, respondent agree (2.54) on the fact that Specific Seminars held by companies
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4.19 Influence of prescription decision of doctor w.r.t Branded medicine, Generic
Generic drug, a drug sold or prescribed under the non-proprietary name of its active
ingredients or under a generally descriptive name rather than under a brand or trade
medications, but not all drugs have generic equivalents. Generic drugs can only be
produced when a patent on a brand name drug expires or when a patent has never
existed. They are generally cheaper than the equivalent brand name drug because of
much lower marketing and development costs. Branded drug has a trade name and is
protected by a patent (can be produced and sold only by the company holding the
patient.As stated above generic medicines are generally cheaper than the equivalent
brand name drug because of much lower marketing and development costs,so it may
samples have been shown to affect physician prescribing behaviour. Physicians with
access to free samples are more likely to prescribe brand name medication over
is nececessary to know that whether advertising for branded drug over generic
medicine and patient demand influence their prescription decision are not. The
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Table No. 4.19:- Influence of prescription decision of doctor
S.
Statement N Mean SD
no
Pharmaceutical advertisement are
1 important factor in prescription of 150 2.89 0.661
branded medicines
Pharmaceutical advertisement
influence me to change my
2 150 2.93 0.587
prescription decision from Generic
medicine to Branded medicines
Patient suggestion (demand) influence
3 150 3.33 0.959
my prescription decision
The information presented in the above table indicates the mean and standard
change my prescription decision from Generic medicine to Branded medicines" and "
prescription of branded medicines" has scored lowest mean as compared to all other
pharmaceutical advertisement
Pharmaceutical marketing is unique as the decision making of buying the medicine
lies in the hand of intermediate customer (doctor) rather than final consumer (patient).
Thus pharmaceutical companies try to influence the customer (doctor) rather than
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final consumer (Patient). Thus doctors are the most important players in
which drugs (brands) will be used by the consumer (patient). Thus influencing the
promotional inputs like samples, gifts and sponsorships etc. Doctors have regular
contact with the pharmaceutical industry and its sales representatives, who spend a
large sum of money each year promoting to them by way of gifts, free meals, travel
communication must be creative for example the medical representative is the face of
the pharmaceutical company and only he can create an impact on the prescriber of the
medicine. It is very important to see that the medical representative delivers the
their medicine to these distinct classes of customers and train the field sales force to
the time span over which multiple exposures occur is very important, as inundating
someone with a high number of exposures in a short period of time can have an
adverse effect. Awareness levels steadily increase by frequency when the ads are
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advertisement of prescription medicine is different from advertisement of other
product because, here is the doctor who takes the decision on the behalf of
medicines.
The information presented in the above table indicates the mean and standard
important factor which influence my prescription decision " has scored lowest mean
channels and programmes are important in the promotion of medicines." has scored
- 223 -
4.21 Impact and extent of impact of Pharmaceutical advertisement: - It depends
on the various variables, due to different variables impact also differs. Qualification
- 225 -
ANOVA IN DOCTOR EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION
- 226 -
- 227 -
ANOVA IN DOCTOR EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION
Sum of Mean
df F Sig.
Squares Square
Between Groups .962 2 .481 .560 .572
Specific Seminars
Within Groups 126.298 147 .859
held by companies
Total 127.260 149
for patient in the market and Qualification of doctor- In the above table having
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variables Medical Representative, Medical Journals, Clinical papers, Television/
Electronic Media, Internet, Hoardings and Specific Seminars held by companies the
value of significant is 0.798, 0.250, 0.490, 0.744, 0.97, 0.564 and 0.975 respectively
which is insignificant (p>0.05) and tells us that null hypothesis is accepted. It means
medicines and Qualification of doctor- In the above table having variables Medical
Internet the value of significant is 0.196, 0.520, 0.684, 0.134, and 0.556 respectively
which is insignificant (p>0.05) and tells us that null hypothesis is accepted. It means
that Doctor Qualification has no impact on these variables where as Hoardings and
Specific Seminars held by companies the significant value is 0.014 and 0.037
null hypothesis rejected. It means that Doctor Qualification has impact on this
variables
Qualification of doctor: - In the above table the value of significant is 0.120 which is
insignificant (p>0.05) and tells us that null hypothesis is accepted. It means that
companies and Qualification of doctor- In the above table having variables Free
staff, Tickets to special entertainment events and Dinner for the physician and their
family, the value of significant is 0.346, 0.492, 0.367, 0.183 and 0.149 respectively
which is significant (p>0.05) and tells us that null hypothesis is accepted. It means
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that Doctor Qualification has no effect on these variables where as free samples the
accepted and null hypothesis rejected. It means that Doctor Qualification has effect
on this variables
Media, Internet, Hoardings and Specific Seminars held by companies the value of
significant is 0.379, 0.788, 0.642, 0.799, 0.747, 0.807 and 0.636 respectively which is
insignificant (p>0.05) and tells us that null hypothesis is accepted. It means that
Qualification of doctor:- In the above table the value of significant is 0.800 which is
insignificant (p>0.05) and tells us that null hypothesis is accepted. It means that
above table the value of significant is 0.892 which is insignificant (p>0.05) and tells
us that null hypothesis is accepted. It means that Doctor Qualification has no effect on
this variable.
Qualification of doctor: - In the above table the value of significant is 0.164 which is
insignificant (p>0.05) and tells us that null hypothesis is accepted. It means that
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i) Direct-to- Consumer Advertisement are important in promotion of
medicines and Qualification of doctor: - In the above table the value of significant
is 0.833 which is insignificant (p>0.05) and tells us that null hypothesis is accepted. It
Qualification of doctor: - In the above table the value of significant is 0.550 which is
insignificant (p>0.05) and tells us that null hypothesis is accepted. It means that
and Qualification of doctor: - In the above table the value of significant is 0.453
which is insignificant (p>0.05) and tells us that null hypothesis is accepted. It means
lasting effect on the mind and Qualification of doctor- In the above table having
Internet, Hoardings and Specific Seminars held by companies the value of significant
is 0.096, 0.407, 0.257, 0.744, 0.678, and 0.572 respectively which is insignificant
(p>0.05) and tells us that null hypothesis is accepted. It means that Doctor
accepted and null hypothesis rejected. It means that Doctor Qualification has effect
on this variables
In the above table the value of significant is 0.822 which is insignificant (p>0.05) and
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tells us that null hypothesis is accepted. It means that Doctor Qualification has no
medicines and Qualification of doctor: - In the above table the value of significant
is 0.550 which is insignificant (p>0.05) and tells us that null hypothesis is accepted. It
doctor:- In the above table the value of significant is 0. 307 which is insignificant
(p>0.05) and tells us that null hypothesis is accepted. It means that Doctor
and Qualification of doctor: - In the above table the value of significant is 0. 185
which is insignificant (p>0.05) and tells us that null hypothesis is accepted. It means
doctor: - In the above table the value of significant is 0.221 which is insignificant
(p>0.05) and tells us that null hypothesis is accepted. It means that Doctor
and Qualification of doctor: - In the above table the value of significant is 0.334
which is insignificant (p>0.05) and tells us that null hypothesis is accepted. It means
decision and Qualification of doctor: - In the above table the value of significant is
0.464 which is insignificant (p>0.05) and tells us that null hypothesis is accepted. It
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means that Doctor Qualification has no effect on this variable.Similarly Regional
status of practice is also one of the variable in which there is a difference in impact of
163.840 149
Total
10.755 2 5.377 9.572 .000
Between Groups
93.333 149
Total
.539 2 .270 .366 .694
Between Groups
Television/ 108.234 147 .736
Within Groups
Electronic Media
108.773 149
Total
13.505 2 6.752 6.390 .002
Between Groups
168.833 149
Total
.866 2 .433 .303 .739
Between Groups
210.207 147 1.430
Hoardings Within Groups
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ANOVA IN REGIONAL STATUS OF PRACTICE PLACE
Sum of Mean
df F Sig.
Squares Square
10.126 2 5.063 8.786 .000
Between Groups
Specific Seminars 84.707 147 .576
Within Groups
held by companies
94.833 149
Total
Reliability of information provided through different media about medicines
8.352 2 4.176 9.049 .000
Between Groups
Medical 67.841 147 .462
Within Groups
Representative
76.193 149
Total
4.236 2 2.118 2.447 .090
Between Groups
131.493 149
Total
5.574 2 2.787 2.663 .073
Between Groups
153.820 147 1.046
Clinical papers Within Groups
- 234 -
ANOVA IN REGIONAL STATUS OF PRACTICE PLACE
Sum of Mean F Sig.
df
Squares Square
Between Groups 4.966 2 2.483 7.005 .001
Medical
Representative as key 52.107 147 .354
Within Groups
element in providing
information Total 57.073 149
- 235 -
- 236 -
ANOVA IN REGIONAL STATUS OF PRACTICE PLACE
Sum of Mean
df F Sig.
Squares Square
Between 1.004 2 .502 1.151 .319
Pharmaceutical Groups
advertisement in 64.070 147 .436
prescription of Within Groups
branded medicines 65.073 149
Total
Pharmaceutical Between .362 2 .181 .522 .595
advertisement to Groups
change prescription 50.971 147 .347
Within Groups
decision from Generic
medicine to Branded 51.333 149
Total
medicines
Between 1.058 2 .529 .572 .566
Patient suggestion Groups
(demand) influence 135.936 147 .925
Within Groups
prescription decision
136.993 149
Total
Direct-to- Between .424 2 .212 .256 .775
Consumer Groups
Advertisement are 121.770 147 .828
Within Groups
important in
promotion of 122.193 149
Total
medicines
Between .945 2 .472 1.170 .313
Ethical issues in Groups
Promotional activity 59.329 147 .404
Within Groups
adopted by
companies. 60.273 149
Total
Between .369 2 .185 .286 .752
Advertising agency Groups
Importance in 94.964 147 .646
Within Groups
Consumer awareness
about medicines 95.333 149
Total
Importance of promotional channels used by companies and their long lasting effect on the
mind
Between 1.507 2 .754 .502 .606
Groups
Medical 220.493 147 1.500
Representative Within Groups
- 237 -
- 238 -
for patient in the market and regional status of practice place of doctor - In the
papers, Hoardings and Specific Seminars held by companies the value of significant is
0.003, 0.000, 0.000, 0.002 and 0.000 respectively which is significant (p<0.05) and
tells us that null hypothesis is rejected. It means that Regional status of practice place
has effect on these variables, where as Clinical papers and Internet having the value of
significant is 0.694 and 0.739 which is insignificant (p>0.05) and tell us that null
- 239 -
hypothesis is accepted, it means that Regional status of practice place has no effect on
this variables.
medicines and regional status of practice place of doctor:- In the above table
the value of significant is 0.000, 0.000, and 0.000 respectively which is significant
(p<0.05) and tells us that null hypothesis is rejected. It means that Regional status of
practice place has effect on these variables where as Medical Journals, Clinical
papers, Internet and Specific Seminars held by companies the significant value is
0.090, 0.073, 0.644 and 0.264 respectively which is insignificant (p>0.05) and
alternative hypothesis rejected and null hypothesis accepted. It means that Regional
regional status of practice place of doctor: - In the above table the value of
significant is 0.001 which is significant (p<0.05) and tells us that null hypothesis is
rejected. It means that Regional status of practice place has effect on this variable.
companies and regional status of practice place of doctor - In the above table
(p<0.05) and tells us that null hypothesis is rejected. It means that Regional status of
practice place has effect on these variables where as Lunch for physician and staff,
Tickets to special entertainment events and Dinner for the physician and their family,
the significant value is 0.388,0.181 and 0.128 (p>0.05) which is insignificant and
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alternative hypothesis accepted and null hypothesis rejected. It means that Regional
prescription and regional status of practice place of doctor: - In the above table
companies the value of significant is 0.086, 0.110, 0.130, 0.347, 0.557, 0.369 and
0.524 respectively which is insignificant (p>0.05) and tells us that null hypothesis is
accepted. It means that Regional status of practice place has no effect on these
variables.
regional status of practice place of doctor:- In the above table the value of
significant is 0.319 which is insignificant (p>0.05) and tells us that null hypothesis is
accepted. It means that Regional status of practice place has no effect on this variables
doctor: - In the above table the value of significant is 0.595 which is insignificant
(p>0.05) and tells us that null hypothesis is accepted. It means that Regional status of
status of practice place of doctor: - In the above table the value of significant is
0.566 which is insignificant (p>0.05) and tells us that null hypothesis is accepted. It
means that Regional status of practice place has no effect on this variable.
medicines and regional status of practice place of doctor: - In the above table the
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value of significant is 0.775 which is insignificant (p>0.05) and tells us that null
hypothesis is accepted. It means that Regional status of practice place has no effect on
this variable.
status of practice place of doctor: - In the above table the value of significant is
0.313 which is insignificant (p>0.05) and tells us that null hypothesis is accepted. It
means that Regional status of practice place has no effect on this variable.
and regional status of practice place of doctor: - In the above table the value of
significant is 0.752 which is insignificant (p>0.05) and tells us that null hypothesis is
accepted. It means that Regional status of practice place has no effect on this variable.
lasting effect on the mind and regional status of practice place of doctor - In the
held by companies the value of significant is 0.606, 0.315, 0.808, 0.184, 0.707,
0.321and 0.829 respectively which is insignificant (p>0.05) and tells us that null
hypothesis is accepted. It means that Regional status of practice place has no effect on
these variables
practice place of doctor:- In the above table the value of significant is 0.167
(p>0.05) which is insignificant and tells us that null hypothesis is accepted. It means
medicines and regional status of practice place of doctor: - In the above table the
- 242 -
value of significant is 0.962 which is insignificant (p>0.05) and tells us that null
hypothesis is accepted. It means that Regional status of practice place has no effect on
this variable.
practice place of doctor:- In the above table the value of significant is 0. 687 which
is insignificant (p>0.05) and tells us that null hypothesis is accepted. It means that
and regional status of practice place of doctor: - In the above table the value of
significant is 0. 207 which is insignificant (p>0.05) and tells us that null hypothesis is
accepted. It means that Regional status of practice place has no effect on this variable.
practice place of doctor: - In the above table the value of significant is 0.408 which
is insignificant (p>0.05) and tells us that null hypothesis is accepted. It means that
and regional status of practice place of doctor: - In the above table the value of
significant is 0.201 which is insignificant (p>0.05) and tells us that null hypothesis is
accepted. It means that Regional status of practice place has no effect on this variable.
decision and regional status of practice place of doctor: - In the above table the
value of significant is 0.944 which is insignificant (p>0.05) and tells us that null
hypothesis is accepted. It means that Regional status of practice place has no effect on
this variable.
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CHAPTER- 5
The conducted research has been executed to answer the research questions presented
in section 3.14. The purpose of research was to know the impact of pharmaceutical
From the data analysis of respondent our findings show that the awareness of
advertisement among respondent is higher than 90%. It shows that our topic to study
the impact of advertisement has much relevance in current scenario. Our finding
about medium of advertisement shows that advertisement through television get more
medium is word to mouth in which the respondent percentage is more than 16% while
this is quite less from the television advertisement medium. The data analysis also
respondent with type of family shows that there is no significant association between
medium of advertisement that get the attention of respondent and type of family.
medium of advertisement that get the attention of respondent as the Chi-Square value
attention with educational qualification, Occupation and age of the respondent as the
Advertising affect consumer in many ways whether by recall, positive impression,
create interest and also in decision process. From the data analysis of the effectiveness
of advertisements long lasting impact we found that it develop the interests among
affecting the decision process and positive impression of the consumer towards
particular medicines.
OTC medicines (Over the counter drug) are medicines sold directly to a consumer
advertisement is news paper in which the respondent percentage is 31%. This study
indicates that there is significance association between types of family, marital status
of consumers with effective medium of advertisement for OTC drug as the Chi-
Square value is insignificant. Similarly this study also indicates that there is a
The trends towards self medication are likely to grow as consumers are becoming
familiar with OTC drugs, due to extensive advertising by companies. Doctor, retailer,
Television, Friends and relatives, News papers also act as suggestive measures for
consumer to purchase the OTC drugs (common use medicines). This study indicates
that about 31% respondent purchase common use medicines by suggestive measure of
television followed by doctor. This study also show that there is no significant
insignificant. Similarly this study also indicates there is significant association
relatives, retailer doctor etc. The analysis of data shows that 31% of respondent
Nies,E.A. (1982) also found that consumers are becoming familiar with OTC drug
due to extensive advertising by companies. This study also reveals that family type,
direct impact on health of consumers. The analysis of data indicates that about 32% of
respondent agree to some extent that advertisement create need among consumer. The
advertising and it was found that about 48% of respondent paid some attention about
pharmaceutical advertisement. This research is also made to assess the lasting effect
lasting effect of advertisement is about one week whereas about 24% of respondent
- 246 -
In pharmaceutical advertisement some pharmaceutical product attribute like strength
of medicines, dosage form, route of administration and dosing schedule etc. are
advertisement. Similarly this study also reveals that about 32% respondent influence
agree to some extent that they relied on these pharmaceutical advertisement while
From the data analysis about advertising attributes that impact in selection of
theme influenced the buying behavior of respondents and this decision is highly stable
as shows from the mean value (2.12) and standard deviation (1.077) of the
their impacts in selection of medicine as the mean value and standard deviation of this
For prescription medicine consumer is not directly purchase the medicine but doctor
on the behalf of consumer/patient prescribed the medicines for purchase. Thats why
information about medicine available for patient in the market shows that television
- 247 -
Similarly there are various medium which provide information about medicine but
doctor do not rely on the information provided through all different medium. The
reliability of information provided through medical journal are important as the mean
value is 1.49 followed by clinical paper whose mean value is 1.53.This study also find
(mean value 1.95) and medical journal (mean value 1.97) are more effective.
activity. In research 78% of doctor agreed that medical representative visiting in their
practice hours, 63% doctor says that about 5-10 MRs visited per day in their clinic
and as a key element for providing information about medicines and about 69%
doctor agreed that MRs is a key element for providing information about medicines.
Caudil,T.S.et al (1996) also found that Physicians agreed that sales representatives
provided useful and accurate information about newly and already established drugs,
but only slightly agreed that they performed an important teaching function where as
Ravindra Goyal and Pranav Pareek (2013) examines that Medical representatives
There are various promotional items like free samples There are various promotional
items like free samples, Trip to Seminars, lunch/ Dinner for physicians family and
companies to doctors to boost their sales and for doctors trips to seminars having
mean value 2.71 and free samples having mean value 2.77 are important promotional
items.Mahmoud Abdullah Al-Areefi et. al (2013) concluded that that physicians are
aware that the medical representatives could influence their prescribing decision; they
welcome representatives to visit them and consider receiving free samples, gifts and
- 248 -
various kinds of support as a normal practice. He also found that the majority of the
main reasons stated for allowing medical representatives visits are the social contacts
Various promotional channels used by companies make their long lasting effect of the
mind of doctors , but it is not possible that all promotional channel make their impact
on doctor mind and it is found that MRs are important promotional channel used by
companies that makes their long lasting effect on doctor mind having mean value 2.40
of prescription decision w.r.t branded medicine, generic medicine and patient demand
branded medicine (mean value 2.89) and pharmaceutical advertisement influence the
doctor to change the prescription decision from generic to branded medicine (mean
value 2.93). Manchanda, P. and Honka, E (2005) also concluded that there is also
has impact on the variable like hoardings and specific seminars conducted by
promotional items and it has also impact on the medical journals as promotional
channels. Regional status of practice place has impact on the variable like Medical
medicine available for patient in the market and in context to reliability of information
provided through different medium about medicines Regional status of practice place
promotional items
findings of this study. Consumer paid more attention when Television medium of
persuasive, but not high enough so that consumers can directly go and ask for the
common diseases and create need up to some extent and theme of advertisement
creates more attention and makes their impacts in selection of medicine. From the
results, we can also consider that doctor prescription for medicine is responsive to
and Informative.
company and provide feedback about necessary changes made for doctors for
that motivate him for prescription of medicine. Advertising through Medical
information .The informative advertising allows doctors to have access to product and
carrying specific, definite and tangible facts about product. Drug promotion strongly
and of research are important elements in this influence. In this it is found that MRs
are important promotional channel used by companies that makes their long lasting
clinical paper are important for doctors. The findings provided insight into possible
finding will provide the basis for policymakers in the public and private health sector
in India and those countries which have a similar health system to develop a suitable
policy and regulations in terms of drug promotion. A national formulary will help
findings do provide some insights and feedback for administrators of media industry
towards advertising for doctors. As part of the efforts to create favorable attitude,
some suggested strategies include: ensuring the sources of advertisement are credible,
Future Research: The final objective of the researcher is that what all findings have
been achieved may become part of future researches. Further direction for future
research is:-
- 251 -
Future research can be extended to pharmacists that how these pharmacists make their
explore how consumers make use of the pharmaceutical staff when they are in a
pharmacy, and how the pharmaceutical staff is aware of their own influence on the
customers and how they use their knowledge to guide the decision making process.
More focus on the promotional sector can be done through further research that
studies through which media pharmaceutical advertisements are best to reach the
consumer segment that is recognized to buy products that are familiar to them through
research evidence tends to support the negative impact that is feared by those who
support a legislative ban. Further research is needed into the clinical and economic
- 252 -
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ANNEXURE-A
c) Marital Status-:- (i) Married (ii) Un Married (iii) Widow (iv) Separated
e) Family income :- (i) <1.5 lacs (ii) 1.5 lacs-.3.0 lacs (iii) 3.01 lacs- 5.0 lacs
(iv) 5.01 lacs- 7.0 lacs (v) > 7.0 lacs
g) Occupation:-
(i) Student ( ii) Business (iii) Government Service
(iv) Professional (v) Housewife (vi) Any Other (Please Specify)______
5- For common use medicines (OTC) which medium of advertisement is more affective?
( i) Television ( ii) News Paper ( iii) Radio ( iv) Internet
(v) Other (Magazines/Bill boards/brouchers/kiosks/fillers/Event
8- To what extent of advertising of various pharmaceutical products create the need for
the Product in your mind-
( i) To a great extent ( ii) To some extent ( iii) To a considerable extent ( iv) Not at all
10- While seeing the various advertisements of medicines, which aspect of product attribute
do you observe in advertisement-?
(i) strength (ii) dosage form (iii) route of administration ( iv) Dosing schedule
11- Who influenced you most in selecting medicine for common diseases-?
(i) Advertising (ii) Friends & relatives (iii) Retailer ( iv) Doctor
14- On a scale of 1-5 Kindly rate the following medicine advertisement attributes in Order
Of your preference where 1 stands for highest rank for agree or favoring to
Particular View and 5 stands for completely disagree or disfavoring to Particular
View. Please put a tick mark ()
(1= Strongly Agree, 2= Agree , 3= Neutral, 4=Disagree & 5= Strongly Disagree)
Attributes 1 2 3 4 5
Theme of Advertisement
Visual presentation
Strength of Medicines
Dosage form(tablet,capsule,liquid etc)
Role of celebrities
ANNEXURE-B
Impact of Advertisement on Customer Purchase Behavior in Pharmaceuticals
1- Personal Profile
1e.) No. of years of Practice: >2 years >5 years >10 years >15 years
(1) (2) (3) (4)
1h.) O.P.D Frequency (<15) (15 to 25) (26 to 40) (40 to 54) (>54)
(Daily Average): (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
From Question no. 2 and onwards are based on the scale of 1 to 5 in which;
1 Stands for highest rank for agree or favoring to particular view and 5 stands for
completely disagree or disfavoring to particular view.
2 Importance of medium providing information about medicine available for patient in the
market.
2a. Medical Representative 1 2 3 4 5
2b. Medical Journals 1 2 3 4 5
2c. Clinical papers 1 2 3 4 5
2d. Television/ Electronic Media 1 2 3 4 5
2e. Internet 1 2 3 4 5
2f. Hoardings 1 2 3 4 5
2g. Specific Seminars held by companies 1 2 3 4 5
3 Reliability of information provided through different media about medicines.
3a. Medical Representative 1 2 3 4 5
3b. Medical Journals 1 2 3 4 5
3c. Clinical papers 1 2 3 4 5
3d. Television/ Electronic Media 1 2 3 4 5
3e. Internet 1 2 3 4 5
3f. Hoardings 1 2 3 4 5
3g. Specific Seminars held by companies 1 2 3 4 5
4 Is Medical Representative (MR) visiting in your yes ( 1 ) No ( 2 )
practice hours:
4a. If yes, on average how many companies MR visiting
per day <5 5 -10 11- 15 15- 20 >20
4b. Is Medical Representative are important key 1 2 3 4 5
element in providing information about medicines.
5 State the importance of promotional items /other facilities distributed /provided by
companies
5a. Free samples 1 2 3 4 5
5b. Trips to seminars 1 2 3 4 5
5c. Pens/notepads/calendars/etc 1 2 3 4 5
5d. Lunch for physician and staff 1 2 3 4 5
5e. Tickets to special entertainment events 1 2 3 4 5
5f. Dinner for the physician and their family 1 2 3 4 5
6 Is Prohibiting Bodies (Bodies Discouraging) 1 2 3 4 5
influencing promotional activities
7 State the effectiveness of information provided through different media in your
prescription.
7a. Medical Representative 1 2 3 4 5
7b. Medical Journals 1 2 3 4 5
7c. Clinical papers 1 2 3 4 5
7d. Television/ Electronic Media 1 2 3 4 5
7e. Internet 1 2 3 4 5
7f. Hoarding. 1 2 3 4 5
7g. Specific Seminars held by companies 1 2 3 4 5
8 Pharmaceutical advertisements are important 1 2 3 4 5
factor in prescription of branded medicines.
9 Pharmaceutical advertisement influences me to 1 2 3 4 5
change my prescription decision from generic
medicine to Branded medicines.
10 Patient suggestion (demand) influence my 1 2 3 4 5
prescription decision
11 Importance of Direct-to- Consumer 1 2 3 4 5
Advertisement in promotion of medicines
12 Importance of Ethical issues in Promotional 1 2 3 4 5
activity adopted by companies.
13 Importance of advertising agency in Consumer 1 2 3 4 5
awareness about medicines
14 State the important of promotional channels used by companies and their long lasting
effect on the mind.
14a. Medical Representative 1 2 3 4 5
14b. Clinical Paper 1 2 3 4 5
14c. Medical Journals 1 2 3 4 5
14d. Television advertisement 1 2 3 4 5
14e. Internet 1 2 3 4 5
14f. Hoarding 1 2 3 4 5
14g. Specific Seminars held by companies 1 2 3 4 5
15 Importance of celebrities used by companies in 1 2 3 4 5
brand promotion.
16 Specialized promotional channels and programmes 1 2 3 4 5
are important in the promotion of medicines
17 Importance of promotional activities adopted by 1 2 3 4 5
companies in the growth of consumerism
18 Importance of promotional channel used by 1 2 3 4 5
companies convening information to consumers
19 Importance of Regulatory Acts in your prescription 1 2 3 4 5
20 Creativity in pharmaceutical Advertisement effects 1 2 3 4 5
my prescription decision.
21 Frequency of Pharmaceutical advertisement are 1 2 3 4 5
important factor to influence my prescription
decision.