IntroductionSince the enactment of the revised Pharmaceutical Affairs Act in Japan in 2009, self-medication practices have increased in the country. However, studies report that consumers pay little attention to the medication facts and risks indicated on the packages of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, which could be a potential risk. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the digital transformation of purchasing OTC medicines has progressed. As an appropriate design for the digital transformation is likely to improve consumers' literacy and them obtaining medical information, this study systematically examines Japanese consumers' attitudes toward the digital transformation of OTC medicine purchase behavior and its correlation to eHealth literacy, exploring an appropriate digital experience design in purchasing OTC medicine.MethodsParticipants from the Greater Tokyo Area of Japan participated in an online survey. Consumers' current behavior and preferences in accessing OTC medicine, receiving medication guidance, and obtaining medical information were examined. eHealth literacy was assessed using the J-eHEALS. Descriptive statistics, text mining, and thematic analysis were conducted to answer research questions.ResultsOver 89% of the respondents who had experience in purchasing OTC medicines preferred local pharmacies or stores rather than online purchasing, p < 0.001. Obtaining medicine guidance in pharmacies or stores was the main preference over other approaches, p < 0.001. Furthermore, most of the participants accepted selecting medicine on shelves and digital screens in-store. However, they were accustomed to using smartphones to obtain additional information at the pharmacy or drug store, p < 0.001; this behavior was positively correlated with eHealth literacy, p < 0.001.ConclusionsJapanese consumers are seeking a combination of conventional and digital behaviors for purchasing OTC medicine rather than opting for a particular method. Most consumers prefer purchasing and receiving instructions in-store while searching for additional decision-making information online. eHealth literacy is positively associated with digital behaviors of OTC medicine information acquisition but less associated with medicine purchases and selections. The hybrid digital experience design may enhance the OTC medicine purchase experience and reduce potential risks by providing appropriate information.

Designing an over-the-counter medication electronic health record (OTC-EHR) may help improve OTC usage. An online survey for the conceptual OTC-EHR design examined participant characteristics, attitudes towards obtaining user-shared OTC medication information, health-related application usage, and the inclination to share anonymized health information. Descriptive statistics, tests to assess statistical significance, and text mining were used to analyze the results. The findings revealed that Japanese consumers, particularly those with high eHealth literacy and women, possess relatively positive attitudes towards obtaining user-shared OTC medication information than those with low eHealth literacy (t (280.71) = −4.11, p < 0.001) and men (t (262.26) = −2.78, p = 0.006), respectively. Most consumers own smartphones but do not use health-related applications. A minority held positive attitudes about sharing anonymized health information. The perceived helpfulness of OTC-EHR was positively associated with the usage of health-related applications (χ2 (4) = 18.35, p = 0.001) and attitude towards sharing anonymized health information (χ2 (3) = 19.78, p < 0.001). The study findings contribute towards OTC-EHR’s design to enhance consumers’ self-medication and reduce risks, while the psychological barriers to sharing anonymized health information should be improved by increasing the OTC-EHR’s penetration rate and engaging in appropriate information design.

The "negative attitudes towards robots scale" (NARS) has been widely applied in the field of robot-human interaction. However, the various occupations and roles of robots have not been discussed when studying negative attitudes towards robots. This study explores whether the occupation of robots could influence people's negative attitudes towards them. For the first time, two types of robots that may be widely used were used in a NARS-related study. We conducted online questionnaire research, covering three separate parts: negative attitudes towards robots, negative attitudes towards service robots, and negative attitudes towards security robots. The results of the online survey collected from 114 participants (54 females and 60 males) highlighted differences among the scores of people's negative attitudes towards service robots and the negative attitudes towards robots or security robots. People showed the lowest negative attitudes towards service robots. There were no significant differences between the negative attitudes towards robots and security robots. This study supports the hypothesis that people show different levels of negative attitudes towards different types of robots in terms of occupational division. These results provide a helpful indicator for the study and design of robots in various occupations in the robotics industry.

The rapid development of e-commerce and impact of the pandemic may affect consumers' healthy behavior in purchasing OTC medicines. This study aimed to examine the relationship between Japanese consumers’ current behaviors of purchasing OTC medicines and literacy through exploring the digital experience of purchasing based on tablets. An online questionnaire was conducted in the Kanto region of Japan, which included questions on purchasing behaviors and medication literacy, and the Japanese version of the eHealth Literacy Scale. Of the participants who had experience in purchasing OTC medicines, 89.47% preferred to buy them at pharmacies or stores, whereas 9.47% tended to purchase them online (χ2(2) = 271.50, p < .01); 64.24% accepted choosing medicines through a digital screen (χ2(3) = 102.36, p < .01) and 85.26% obtained information through smartphones while purchasing OTC medicines at pharmacies or stores. Young consumers aged 20-29 years used smartphones significantly more frequently than those aged 30-49 years (p <. 01). There was a positive correlation between eHealth literacy and smartphone use (r = .24, p < .01). The results suggest that Japanese consumers prefer to visit a pharmacy or drug store to purchase OTC medicines. They also prefer to search for information about OTC medicines on-site with a digital device, such as a smartphone, rather than buying OTC medicines from online stores. The digital experience of a tablet-based purchasing system would be useful and acceptable for young consumers and those with high eHealth literacy.