A  Study on Factors Influencing Purchase of OTC analgesic drugs

Dr. N.Thamaraiselvan Natarajan, K.Priya verthini Kanagarathinam

Dr. N.Thamaraiselvan Natarajan, K.Priya verthini Kanagarathinam

Abstract

Purpose– Emphasis on the purchase of nonprescription drugs. The aim of this research paper is to predict the factors influencing the purchase of nonprescription drugs adopting Theory of Reasoned Action(TRA), among Indian customers.

Design/Methodology/Approach – Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling was adopted to evoke responses from the public by employing a convenience sampling approach. The researcher mostly met the respondents at their work places.Totally, 450 questionnaires were distributed and 417 responses were received.

Findings – Over-The-Counter (OTC) analgesic drugs’ television advertisements, attitude towards buying OTC analgesic drugs added with subjective norms and past experience are vital for affecting purchase intention among consumers in developing nations. Health-related variables act as a negative factor in influencing purchase attitudes.

Originality/value– Purchase of OTC drugs has been significantly increasing along with the change in perceptions of public. Analysis regarding age group, gender, attitudeandexperiencecanprovideadistinctiveunderstandingregarding OTC.Thiswouldhelpmanagers to segment OTC pharmacy market accordingly and implement strategies to influence their attitudes and intentions in developing pharma markets likeIndia.

Implication – Health-related variables do not influence drug purchase directly. Additionally, health conscious people fear using OTC analgesic drugs. The television advertisements of OTC analgesic drugs have a positive impact on consumers’ attitude. Therefore, television advertisements must convey that the usage of OTC drugs does not result in side effects. Secondly, based on past experience, we can predict that only 12% of the consumers had not used OTC analgesic drugs even once. This communicates that people generally do not intend to buy medicines. However, they use OTC drugs in case of pain and suffering. Consequently, we can predict the upcoming growth of medicines in developing countries. Therefore, advertisers can work without segmenting people,because a healthy and health conscious individual tends to use OTC analgesic drugs.

Limitation – The present study emphasizes only on analgesic drugs andthe actual purchase behavior was not analyzed.