IMPACT OF ADVERTISING ON CUSTOMER PURCHASE BEHAVIOUR IN PHARMACEUTICALS SUBMITTED TO THE GOVERNMENT COLLEGE UNIVERSTY OF FASILABID (Sub-Campus Sahiwal) Department of BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION SUBMITTED BY: AzharHussain Under the Supervision of DR .Ahmad nawaz DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Government College University Sahiwal (sub-campus Sahiwal ) 2017
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IMPACT OF ADVERTISING ON CUSTOMER PURCHASE BEHAVIOUR IN PHARMACEUTICALS
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IMPACT OF ADVERTISING ON CUSTOMER PURCHASE BEHAVIOUR IN PHARMACEUTICALS
SUBMITTED TO THE
GOVERNMENT COLLEGE UNIVERSTY OF FASILABID
(Sub-Campus Sahiwal) Department of
BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
SUBMITTED BY:
AzharHussain
Under the Supervision of
DR .Ahmad nawaz
DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Government College University Sahiwal (sub-campus Sahiwal )
2017
DECLARATION
I hereby affirm that my research work entitled “Impact of Advertising on Customer
Purchase Behavior in Pharmaceuticals” for the award of Doctor of Philosophy from
Lahore University, Lahore is my own original work and has not been submitted for
Any assessment or degree/diploma or award at the University of Lahore or any other
University.
_________________________
Department of Business Administration
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
It is with immense gratitude and pleasure that I acknowledge the help and support of
my supervisor Dr.Ahmad zaheer Nawaz 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 Dr. Ijaz Head of Department of Business Administration, and
all the respected teachers and staff of the Department for their constant support and
encouragement throughout my research work.
This thesis would not have been possible without the love and support of my family
and friends. I especially thankAtharHussain for his helpful insights and for standing by
me through good times and bad. I also acknowledge him for their best suggestions and
constant support.
Finally, I must express my very profound gratitude to my Mother,providing me with
unfailing support and continuous encouragement throughout my years of study and
through the process of researching and writing this thesis. This accomplishment would
not have been possible without them. Thank you.
AzharHussain
ABSTRACT
This study was conducted to develop a simple framework for finding out the impact of
the different kinds of advertisement and promotional tools offered by pharmaceutical
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 explore advertising effectiveness of OTC drugs and Prescription drugs amongst
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 method of broadcasting information. The customer purchase behavior study
in Pharmaceutical advertisement is based on the consumer purchase behavior because
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 pharmaceutical advertisement makes an impact on doctor prescription
behavior. Moreover the study also focused on whether the perception of physicians
towards variouspromotional tools is different with respect to demographic variables.
This research based on descriptive research or quantitative research. In this descriptive
research Cross-Sectional study used to compare demographical variables with attitude
of the respondent. Well-structured Questionnaires was developed for direct consumer
and doctors to identify important variables influencing Pharmaceutical advertising
effectiveness and purchase behavior towards medicine. Non probability systematic
convenient sampling technique has been followed. Survey was conducted and data was
analyzed on the basis of responses provided by 329 respondents as consumer and 150
respondents as Doctor. 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 pharmaceutical companies in designing their promotional
strategies especially for doctors and consumers. Construct validity and reliability of the
data were tested using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Descriptive statistics and Chi-
Square Tests for 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 Consumer towards particular medicines and there is
significant association of medium of advertisement that gets the attention with
educational qualification, Occupation and age of the respondent as the Chi-square
value is significant. The Visual presentation of advertisement creates more attention
Rich, E.C. (1990):- A study report on “Attitudes of Internal Medicine Faculty and
Residents Toward Professional Interaction with Pharmaceutical Sales 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 acknowledged sales representatives'
support for conferences and speakers.
53. Perri, M.W. and Dickson, M. (1988) :- In the study "Consumer Reaction to a
Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Advertising Campaign" examined a relationship
between DTC ad exposure and patient behavior measured in the form of drug inquiry.
Applying the consumer information-processing framework, they tested 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 no significant relationship
between involvement and the behavioral outcome, consumers’ medical condition was
significantly related to drug inquiry behavior.
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 management should select. Consumer behavior analysis
helps to determine the direction that consumer behavior is likely to make and to give
preferred trends in product development, and attributes of alternatives communication
method etc. 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 (or group
of Consumers).
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 pharmacists’ advice and make
purchases on their own personal experiences.
54. 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
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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 wereidentified
before specific objectives or hypothesis of the research were formulated. It was felt that
research is needed to find out the following.
1. How print pharmaceutical advertisements attract the attention of the consumer?
2. Up to what extent pharmaceutical advertisement aware to the customer and finally
consumers buy the product?
3. To know the impact level of pharmaceutical advertisement on consumer behavior.
4. How the theme of pharmaceutical Advertisement influence the buying behaviors.
5. How the visual presentation, illustration attract the attention of buyer?
6. How to make the right pharmaceutical advertisement for different age group, male,
female, lower income, middle income and higher middle income people?
7. What is the impact of pharmaceutical advertisement with respect to different
Occupation, marital status and educated people?
8. What should be the suitable medium for advertisement to get the consumer and
Doctor’s attention?
9. Up to what extent celebrities play a major role in placing the OTC drugs among the Consumer and doctor.
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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Scope of the research:-Advertising plays an important role to aware the generalpublic about the product or services. The drug market is highly competitive, and consumer
advertising is a prominent influence in drug purchase and consumption. To aware about the public, advertisement is very effective to tell about the product or services. Here every
brand is available whether the product is prescribed or non- prescribed.
Research design: - This research based on descriptive research or quantitative
researchIn this descriptive research Cross-sectional study used to
comparedemographical variables with attitude of the respondent. There were seven
demographic variables such as Family Size, Age, Gender, Educational Qualification,
Occupation, Family Income and Marital status of the of the consumers and demographic
variables for doctors such as Gender, Qualification, Regional Status of practice place. This
study identifies and evaluates the Sales promotions activities adopted by pharmaceutical
companies to influence the behavior of doctors and customers. Factors affecting
prescription behavior of doctors and consumers’ preferences towards the particular
companies drugs affect the sales of the companies. The promotional activities and change
in the perception of consumers after confronting with the promotion activities adopted by
the companies have also been examined. Basically this research is describing the
population surveyed and its characteristic, so it is descriptive research
-Questionnaires: - Set the work done up to this time provide valuable inputs todesigning
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:-
A-The questionnaire of the direct consumer have following distinct points.
1. An introductory paragraph.
2. The identification information.
3. The Demographic variables asked (Q1a to Q1g).
4. General information regarding advertisement (print, radio, television, word of mouth) (Q3
to Q4).
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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
Advertisement and the need creation (Q7 to Q8).
7. In this portion questions were asked about the attention paid by the consumer and the
aspect of the product (Q9 to Q10).
8. Asking buyer buying behavior and influencing factor in selecting the medicines for
Common diseases (Q11 to Q13).
9. Asking needed information in terms of Likert Scale to rate the medicine
advertisement (Q14).
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Selected Variables
Our study has one dependent and five independent variables which are given below:-
Dependent Variable: Consumer’s buying Behavior
Independent Variable: Necessity, Pleasure, Dominance, Brand Recall and Stimulation.
We have shown our variables in conceptual Model shown in Figure 1
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Definitions of variables
Necessity:The fundamental needs method is one of the essential approaches to the
dimension of absolute poverty in developing countries. It tries to outline absolutely the
minimum assets necessary for lengthy-time period bodily properly-being, commonly in
terms of intake items. The poverty line is then defined as the quantity of profits required to
meet the ones wishes. The 'simple needs' approach turned into added by way of the
International Labor Organization's World Employment Conference in 1976.Perhaps the
excessive point of the WEP was the World Employment Conference of 1976, which
proposed the satisfaction of basic human wishes because the overriding goal of
countrywide and international improvement policy. The simple needs technique to
improvement turned into advocated via governments and employees and employers
corporations from everywhere in the global. It prompted the programmers and regulations
of predominant multilateral and bilateral development companies, and turned into the
precursor to the human improvement approach so necessity define as
“Requirements of time for the unique situation, that may be quench or satisfy the
purchaser’s demand when earnings boom, requirements also increase”.
Pleasure:Pleasure describes the vast class of mental states that human beings and
different animals experience as high-quality, fun, or really worth in search of. It includes
extra precise mental states consisting of happiness, leisure, enjoyment, ecstasy, and
euphoria. The early psychological account of satisfaction, the delight principle, describes
it as a positive feedback mechanism, motivating the organism to recreate inside the
destiny the scenario which it has just observed fulfilling and to keep away from conditions
that have induced pain in the past
The revel in of pleasure is subjective and one-of-a-kind individuals will enjoy one-of-a-
kind kinds and amounts of satisfaction inside the equal state of affairs. Many fulfilling
reports are associated with pleasing primary organic drives, along with eating, workout,
hygiene, and intercourse the appreciation of cultural artifacts and activities inclusive of art,
track, dancing, and literature is frequently pleasant.
Based upon the inducement salience model of reward the appealing and motivational
belongings of a stimulus that induces approach conduct and consummator conduct an
intrinsic reward has additives: a "looking" or desire issue that's contemplated in technique
behavior and a "liking" or satisfaction thing that is pondered in consummator conduct.
While all gratifying stimuli are rewards, some rewards do no longer evoke satisfaction. So
satisfaction defends as the situation in which individual feel suitable, thrilled, or
comfortable in a selected state of affairs.
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Dominance: In the world, there a lot of manufacturers, as an example, Prada, Helmes, and
so forth. It is probably actual that a few brands unfold everywhere in the nations.
However, it isn't apparent that worldwide brands make our identity be lost,
The maximum critical reason is that we've quite a few brands. For example, if you buy
groceries to the grocery store, you may see a variety of products. Even if you’d like to buy
handiest beer, you may see some manufacturers, Asahi, Sentry and Sapporo. It doesn’t
occur that you see simplest one brand. And the further reason is that maximum of humans
can selected one which they prefer among manufacturers. It is possible for us to choose
one logo with our options. If you go to department shop together with your pals, might
you want to buy same brands? Sometimes you may do, but, commonly you may choose
different one. The very last reason is that manufacturers have opportunity to show man or
woman identity. As you could see, brands are probably to be chosen by means of our
alternatives. For this, selecting manufacturers can show our personality or what we adore.
It is plenty clearer for others to recognize what we think or remember. Brands items
dominating globally have a whole lot of arguable problems, which include identity.
However, it is not positive that this has opportunity to danger man or woman identity.
There are three reasons why I strongly disagree with this statement. Brands have a lot of
types, and also choice, then they can show what we like or assume
It’s any person feeling that can be underneath manipulate or it can be loose on a selected
situation.
Brand Recall:Brand don't forget plays a critical position in getting more clients to stay
with your emblem in addition to buy your logo repeatedly. When you as a client purchase
a certain product, as soon as the product is finished or deteriorated, instinctively you
would really like to purchase from the identical logo, because the experience it has
presented you turned into first-class. Also whilst a brand is out of the market after which
it reappears, if you previously had a nice enjoy you are most probably going to buy it once
more.
Brand Recall is the extent to which an emblem name is recalled as a member of a brand,
products or services magnificence, as distinct from emblem recognition. Common market
studies usage is that pure logo don't forget requires “unaided bear in mind”. For example a
respondent may be asked to recollect the names of any motors he may recognize, or any
cigarette manufacturers he might also recognize.
How is emblem keep in mind categorized?
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Generally speaking, brand bear in mind can be divided into two major categories, namely
unaided and aided recollect. In phrases of aided emblem keep in mind, researcher’s
measure the volume to which a logo name is remembered while the real logo call is added
into discussion. For example, one kind of query may be “Do you recollect BMW brand?
Thus, in this example, the name of the logo is noted, enhancing the memory within the
client’s thoughts. However, in an effort to stay aggressive in nowadays incredibly
challenging business environment, managers are focusing greater on unaided logo do not
forget, as it'd mean a competitive benefit towards their rivals. By this we mean that if the
patron can take into account the brand while not having it formerly referred to, then the
brand has a high impact at the purchaser and he recalls the logo very well.A emblem’s
value is at once related to its presence within the memory of clients. Quite certainly, if a
consumer remembers a brand, he is likely to shop for that emblem. If he doesn’t take into
account it, he'll buy the only he remembers. Thus, for a brand, it is vital to set itself in
purchaser’s memory. Brand recall examples
1. When i talk of shoes, you will probably think of Adidas, Reebok or Nike, wherever you
are. This is one of the best examples of brand recall.
2. When i talk of premium automobiles, you might think of Audi, Mercedes or BMW.
3. When i talk premium clothing, then i am sure all of you must have a different brand in
your mind because each person is different.
4. If i ask you your favorite carbonated beverage, more than 50% will say Pepsi or Coca
cola.
The above are brand recall examples of the real world which help us take decisions on a
daily basis. Thus, for a company to have high brand recall is the best blessing in terms of
the turnover it can obtain due to this one single factor. Brand recall defiant as“It’s a level
of consumer that recognized as the potential user of specific brand & it’s related with a
specific product”.
Stimulation:
The condition of feeling that is changeable from person to person in different places or
situations i.e. feeling of enthusiasm, active, excitement, sleepy and bored.
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Hypothesis
We have formulated the following hypothesis for our study
Hypothesis 1
H1A: Necessity of advertisement is effective for FMCG’s in consumer’s mind
H1B: Necessity of advertisement enhance the demand of the Fast Moving Consumer
Goods (FMCGs)
Hypothesis 2
H1A: Pleasure of advertisement is effective for FMCG’s in consumer’s mind
H1B: Pleasure of advertisement enhance the demand of the Fast Moving Consumer Goods
(FMCGs)
Hypothesis 3
H1A: Dominance of advertisement is effective for FMCG’s in consumer’s mind
H1B: Dominance of advertisement enhance the demand of the Fast Moving Consumer
Goods (FMCGs)
Hypothesis 4
H1A: Brand recall advertisement is effective for FMCG’s in consumer’s mind
H1B: Brand recall advertisement enhance the demand of the Fast Moving Consumer
Goods (FMCGs)
Hypothesis 5
H1A: Stimulation advertisement is effective for FMCG’s in consumer’s mind
H1B: Stimulation advertisement is enhance the demand of the Fast Moving Consumer
Goods (FMCGs)
Hypothesis
H0: Advertisement does not effect on the consumer’s buying behavior H1: Advertisement
really effects the consumer’s buying behavior.
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Size of sample: - This refers to the number of items to be selected from theuniverse to
constitute a sample. The total no. of sample size was 200 for doctor and 250 for consumer.
Sampling Technique:This study is broadly on sales promotion activities adoptedby
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 hospital during that
period or other place also.
Survey Instrument: - The instrument used for the study is a questionnaire,constructed by
the researcher. The questionnaires were constructed to obtain responses from the target
sample group of consumer & doctors about the impact of pharmaceutical advertisement.
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CHAPTER- 4
Data Analysis
Data analysis
From total 231 respondents, there were 167 male and 64 female. Their percentage was
72.3% & 27.7% respectively. Their age level: less than 18 were 50, 19-24 were 101, 25-30
were 56, 31-40 were 17, 41-50 were 6 and above 51 was only 1. Their education level: 23
were Matriculation, 72 were Intermediate, 57 were Graduate, 59 possess Master, and 20
were M.Phil. / Ph.D.
Table
1:
Monthly Income Level of
Respondents
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Less 10,000 112 48.5 48.5 48.5
11,000 to
30,000 78 33.8 33.8 82.3
Valid
31,000 to
50,000 33 14.3 14.3 96.5
>51,000 8 3.5 3.5 100.0
Total 231 100.0 100.0
On the basis of their monthly income the respondents were divided into four categories.
Among total 231 respondents 112 were earning less than 10,000 PKR, 78 were earning
between 11,000-30,000 PKR, 33 income was between Pak Rs.31,000-50,000 and 08
income was more than Rs.50,000
Table 2: Citi-wise classification of the respondents.
These five subscales are fully met the standard criteria for checking and measuring
reliability of scale. Our analysis show in the results of 0.8 (ἀ) and it is minimum value
should not be decrease 0.7.So From the above table we observed that the values of
Cronbach’s alpha are not less than 0.7 that is considered as excellent and indicated
reliability of the data.
4.3 Correlation Analysis
Here we have tried to find out the basic correlation between independent and dependent
variables that are:-“(1) Necessity, (2) Pleasure, (3) Dominance, (4) Brand Recall and (5)
Stimulation” (Independent Variables) with the “Consumer’s Buying Behavior”
(Dependent Variable). Above mentioned different variables were analyzed and observed
individually one by one.
Table 9 Results of Correlation analysis between Consumers Buying Behavior (D.V) and
Independent variables is below.
Correlation between advertisement and consumer’s buying behavior that r
value
p value
effects due to these factors
Necessity of advertisement
0.72 0.00
Pleasure of advertisement 0.67 0.00 Dominance of advertisement 0.76 0.00 Brand Recall advertisement 0.88 0.00 Stimulation advertisement 0.81 0.00
The above table shows the Pearson r value is much greater than p value, that is 0.00, and
parallel side the sigma (2 tailed) “p” value is less than 0.05. So it’s clearly indicating that
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the positive correlation is existing between the advertisement and consumer’s buying
behavior.
4.5 Regression Analysis
The results obtained through regression methods are shown in Table 10.
Table 10 Result of the Regression Analysis showing the Impact of advertisements on
Consumers buying behavior.
Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate 1 .518 .097 .22 .45401 1 .660 .426 .413 .66651 1 .695 .397 .284 .50442 1 .799 .539 .522 .64431 1 .726 .551 .539 .64401
As per the results from the above table we analyzed that bi variety correlation r (R) is
0.518 that indicated a strong positive linear relation flanked by different advertisements
and the consumer’s buying behavior with their purchasing. The coefficient of
determination r2(R square) of 0.097 that is indicating the advertising influence that make
to change the buyer’s buying behavior. It is due to those ads which consumer watch by
different sources. However this could be overestimated so we used adjusted R square as
the better estimate for the whole sample. The standard error of estimates was 0.454.
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CHAPTER- 5
DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSION
The conducted research has been executed to answer the research questions. The purpose
of research was to know the impact of pharmaceutical advertising on doctor (customer)
prescription behavior and consumer purchase behavior. The research focus on various
aspects of pharmaceutical advertising like advertising through medical representative,
attributes of pharmaceutical advertising, pharmaceutical advertisement of FMCG Product
for consumers and pharmaceutical promotion and prescription behavior of doctors.
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 attention
as the respondent percentage is more than 56%.The second attractive 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 shows that, association of
medium of advertisement that get the attention of 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.
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
respondents towards particular medicines. We also see that it is also effective in 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 without
a prescription from a health care professional. The data analysis of advertising
effectiveness of OTC drugs (common use medicines), shows that television medium of
advertisement are more effective medium of advertisement for consumer persuasion to
purchase the medicines. The second effective medium of 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 significant association between educational qualifications,
occupation with effective medium of advertisement for OTC drugs as the Chi-Square
value is significant.
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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.
OTC drug purchase by consumer generally influenced by advertising, friends& relatives, retailer doctor etc. The analysis of data shows that 31% of respondent influenced by advertisement of pharmaceutical for purchase of medicines and little bit less 30.70% of
respondent influenced by friends and relatives for purchase of medicines. Doctor also influences respondents for purchasing of common use medicines but extent of influence is
less advertisement and friends& relatives. Also found that consumers are becoming familiar with OTC drug due to extensive advertising by companies. This study also reveals that family type, qualification, occupation, marital status and age of respondent
have no significant association with influencer (advertising, friends& relatives, retailer doctor etc) in selecting medicines for common disease as the Chi-Square value is
insignificant. Advertisement creates need among consumers but pharmaceutical advertising have a
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
next finding focused on the nature of attention paid by respondent in pharmaceutical 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 of
advertisement on consumer and it is found that about 28% of respondent having lasting effect of advertisement is about one week whereas about 24% of respondent having
lasting effect of more than one month.
In pharmaceutical advertisement some pharmaceutical product attribute like strength of
medicines, dosage form, route of administration and dosing schedule etc. are observed by
consumer in pharmaceutical advertisement .This research indicates that more than 50% of
respondent observed strength of medicines in pharmaceutical advertisement. Similarly this
study also reveals that about 32% respondent influence to some extent by pharmaceutical
advertisement and about 45% of respondent are agree to some extent that they relied on
these pharmaceutical advertisement while making purchase decision.
Medical Representative is important source to support the pharmaceutical sales 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 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
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function whereas RavindraGoyal and PranavPareek (2013) examines that Medical
representatives provide incomplete medical information to influence prescribing practices;
they also offer incentives including conference, Seminars, national and aboard
sponsorship.
There are various promotional items like free samples There are various promotional
items like free samples, Trip to Seminars, lunch/ Dinner for physician’s family and there
staff ,tickets to special entertainment events are provided by pharmaceutical 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 various kinds
of support as a normal practice. He also found that the majority of the physicians had
positive interactions with medical representatives. The physician’s main reasons stated for
allowing medical representatives visits are the social contacts and mutual benefits they
will gain from these representatives.
Managerial Implications for doctors:In terms of managerial implication, thefindings do
provide some insights and feedback for administrators of media industry in drafting
various advertising strategies on how to increase the favorable attitude towards advertising
for doctors. As part of the efforts to create favorable attitude, some suggested strategies
include: ensuring the sources of advertisement are credible, trustworthy, believable,
informative message.
Conclusion: - Quite a number of important conclusions can be drawn from thefindings of
this study. Consumer paid more attention when Television medium of advertisement and
television medium of advertisement is more affective for purchase of common use
medicines. The advertisement of OTC drug was found to be persuasive, but not high
enough so that consumers can directly go and ask for the advertised drug. Advertisement
also acts as a influencer in selecting medicines for common diseases and create need up to
some extent and theme of advertisement influence the consumer to buy the products.
Visual presentation 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 advertising. This research has proposed five important factors of
pharmaceutical advertising such as Detailing, Advertising effectiveness, Brand
positioning, Influence, and Informative.
As far as Detailing is concerned in pharmaceutical advertising; it is accused of promoting
medicines that leads to change in prescription behavior because of marketing and
promoting strategies. Advertising effectiveness can add value to a company and provide
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feedback about necessary changes made for doctors for prescription of medicines. Brand
positioning place a consumer brand in doctor mind that motivate him for prescription of
medicine. Advertising through Medical representative influence the doctor prescribing
practices by important scientific information .The informative advertising allows doctors
to have access to product and service information without any hassle. Informative
advertising benefits doctors by carrying specific, definite and tangible facts about product.
Drug promotion strongly influences prescribing behavior. Company funding of doctors, of
educational events 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 effect on doctor mind followed by specific seminars held by companies . The
reliability and effectiveness of information provided through medical journal and clinical
paper are important for doctors. The findings provided insight into possible target areas
for educational interventions about pharmaceutical marketing. Such a finding will provide
the basis for policymakers in the public and private health sector in Pakistan 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 physicians to prescribe
approved medicine.
From the above discussion we have drawn the conclusion that advertisement can change
the behavior of the consumer’s. Factors likewise necessity of advertisement, pleasure of
advertisement, dominance of advertisement, brand recall advertisement, and stimulation
of advertisement. These are very helpful in creating and shifting the consumer’s buying
behavior that is a very positive sign for the advertising and marketing companies. Our
results also proved the model of the study which reveal that advertisements have
significant impact on the consumers ‘buying behavior and widen their choices. This study
will definitely be proved helpful for the marketing and advertising companies to promote
their products in the light of our empirical results. It will enable to focus huge consumer
markets of Punjab.
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7. Recommendations
In the light of our empirical results we want to make the following recommendations:-
1. Consumer’s buying behavior should be continuously observed while preparing the
advertisement messages/Ads.
2. The advertisement messages must be clear so that the common consumers can also
understand them.
3. Advertisement policy should be designed accordingly geographically, to keep in mind the
socio economic status of the consumers.
4. Latest advertisement concepts of marketing should be introduced to achieve the maximum
goal of the FMCG Companies
5. A creative way of advertisement must be adopted to catch the attention of the consumers.
6. THE repetition of the ads on one type of media may reduce the interest of the viewers and,
therefore, advertisements should be given on electronic and print media.
7. Awareness and comparison ads will very helpful to catch the attention of the consumers,
towards the desired FMCG.
8. Online advertising can capture the attention of the internet users, they can directly order
from the online web portal.
9. Shelf designing is very useful tool to attract their attention and liking view point, when
they visit the shop, automatically shelf advertisement catch their interest and they will
pick ad buy FMCG.
10. Teasing or surprising ads like (latest addition is coming soon) are also very constructive to
stimulate the consumers.
11. Product recommendation is very common practice, through this way multiple purposes
can be achieved. Message convey to the recommended person and to the other general
audience.
12. In the shopping mall or display the relevant item near to each other, it will make a need of
the consumers to take another FMCG’s with their desired products.
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13. Getting your customers to have an emotional attachment with your brand is one of the
keys to keep them loyal with their brands.
14. Add the multiple functions in the FMCG advertisements to catch the maximum interest of
the consumers.
15. Social media have a great influence now day advertisement through social media will be
very fruitful to expand the sale of FMCG.
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