Perception of physicians towards pharmaceutical promotion in India

Abstract

Pharmaceutical firms spend a significant amount of their budget on promotions. Thus, it becomes imperative to study the perception of physicians, at whom a major share of these promotional efforts is targeted. Despite this, there exists very little published research examining customer response at the perceptual level. Thus, the authors have attempted to study the importance attached to promotion tools as information sources and the extent to which these promotion tools influence prescription behavior as perceived by physicians. Primary data for the study was collected through a survey of physicians. A total of 115 physicians participated in the study. The study indicates that physicians perceive conferences/symposia to be the most credible information source. An examination of the relationship between perceptions regarding various promotion tools and demographic variables indicates a significant relationship between gender and type of hospital and credibility attached to the various promotional tools. The study indicates a positive correlation between credibility of promotion tools and the extent to which it influences prescription behavior.

The Influence of Information, Brand, Medical Representatives and Sales Promotion on Physician Prescribing Decision

“…The medical journals are another source of information used by pharmaceutical firms to induce physicians to prescribe the medication being advertised . Empirical evidence shows that physicians search for drug information in journal articles . Inadvertently, information contained in medical journals influences the decision‐making of physicians as regards drug prescribing.…”

“…However, existing literature on drug prescribing provides limited insights into the information available on a drug as regards prescribing due to focus on the general source of information or physicians’ use of prescription drug information provided by pharmaceutical firms, for example journal advertising, sales representatives and direct mail literature rather than on the influence of the available information on prescribing drugs. Previous studies on the influence of drug information on prescription behaviour focused mainly on advertising as a source of information .…”

“…Positive promotions play an informative and persuasive role by retaining an existing relationship and creating physicians’ drug awareness . Examples of this type of relationship include promotion tools that serve as information tools to inform and apprise the physicians regarding available prescription drugs . Akande & Aderibigbe discovered that promotion materials serve as an incentive to physicians to prescribe the promoted drugs.…”

“…[32] Empirical evidence shows that physicians search for drug information in journal articles. [21] Inadvertently, information contained in medical journals influences the decision-making of physicians as regards drug prescribing. Al-Areefi et al [33] and Theodorou et al [34] also asserted that prescribing behaviour is affected by commercial sources of information.…”

“…[38,39] Examples of this type of relationship include promotion tools that serve as information tools to inform and apprise the physicians regarding available prescription drugs. [21] Akande & Aderibigbe [41] discovered that promotion materials serve as an incentive to physicians to prescribe the promoted drugs. This type of relationship leads to a rise in prescription rates.…”