Sales and strategic marketing practices in the pharmaceutical industry: doctors as customers and their decisions

Revisiting the Role of Traditional, Electronic and Mobile-Based Communication Channels in the Pharmaceutical Industry of Lithuania

“…Although visits by pharmaceutical sales representatives have been considered one of the most influential communication channels (Scott et al, 2013), it remains unclear what perceptions GPs hold about other communication channels used to disseminate medical information in terms of their reliability, usage frequency and value perceptions of those channels. This is especially so in light of emerging electronic and mobile-based communications, which have challenged the significance of in-person representation in the pharmaceutical industry (Rod & Sounders, 2009).…”

“…Healthcare professionals (or General Practitioners) are the major targets of pharmaceutical companies (Schulz et al, 2014;Scott et al, 2013) because of two reasons: (a) physicians are the key decision-makers in selecting specific drugs for their patients' prescriptions (Gonul et al, 2001); (b) companies are banned by law from advertising their prescription drugs directly-to-consumers (with the exception of US and New Zealand). The most common communication channel to access GPs and inform them about new drugs from pharmaceutical companies would be through sales representatives (personal selling).…”