Exploring the factors that influence the adoption of online pharmacy in Portugal: a study on consumer´s acceptance and pharmacist´s perception

Devido à rápida evolução tecnológica e à penetração da internet no dia-a-dia das pessoas, a compra online de medicamentos e produtos farmacêuticos é uma opção que pode trazer diversas vantagens para a vida do consumidor. Apesar disso, a adoção deste método pelos consumidores portugueses ainda é relativamente baixa. Poucos estudos incidiram sobre a intenção de uso dos não utilizadores e a perceção do farmacêutico em relação às farmácias online em Portugal. Assim, este estudo tem como objetivo explorar os fatores que influenciam a adoção ou não deste tipo de serviço, bem como analisar a perspetiva dos prestadores de serviços farmacêuticos comunitários. Com isso, este estudo também pretende traçar estratégias inovadoras de melhoria para plataformas de e-commerce farmacêutico. Para o efeito, foi aplicado um questionário online aos consumidores portugueses sobre o conhecimento e prática deste método. Foi também elaborada uma entrevista com o objetivo de analisar como os profissionais da área farmacêutica percebem a utilização do e-commerce neste setor em Portugal, sendo esta segunda ferramenta considerada complementar à primeira. Os resultados indicam que existe uma percentagem relativamente elevada de portugueses com conhecimento da prática de aquisição de medicamentos/produtos farmacêuticos pela Internet. Apesar disso, a maioria nunca utilizou este serviço como meio de aquisição deste tipo de produto. Os motivos mais citados pela menor parcela da amostra que utiliza esse método são a entrega em domicílio, a conveniência e os preços competitivos, o que está de acordo com a literatura. Por outro lado, os motivos mais citados pelos entrevistados que nunca utilizaram esse método são o desconhecimento desse tipo de serviço, a preferência pela farmácia, a falta de confiança e a falta de aconselhamento sobre os produtos e seu uso. Os resultados das entrevistas podem indicar que os farmacêuticos comunitários portugueses ainda têm uma confiança limitada na venda online de medicamentos, embora as opiniões favoráveis estejam a aumentar. A partir desses resultados, foi possível concluir que é necessário implementar estratégias de marketing mais eficazes, estruturas organizacionais adequadas e processos logísticos bem definidos que permitam agilidade e eficiência no transporte e entrega.Due to the fast technological evolution and the penetration of the internet in people's daily lives, the online purchase of medicines and pharmaceutical products is an option that can bring several advantages to consumers' lives. Despite this, the adoption of this method by Portuguese consumers is still relatively low. Few studies have focused on the non-adopters' intention of use, and the pharmacist perception of online pharmacies in Portugal. Thus, this study aims to explore the factors that influence the adoption or non-adoption of this type of service, as well as to analyze the perspective of community pharmaceutical service providers. With this, this study also intends to design innovative improvement strategies for pharmaceutical e-commerce platforms. For this purpose, an online questionnaire was applied to Portuguese consumers regarding the awareness and practice of this method. An interview was also designed aimed at analyzing how pharmaceutical professionals perceive the use of e-commerce in this sector in Portugal, this second tool being considered complementary to the first. The results indicate that there is a relatively high percentage of Portuguese people aware of the practice of purchasing medicines/pharmaceutical products over the Internet. Despite this, most have never used this service as a means of purchasing this type of product. The reasons most mentioned by the smaller part of the sample that uses this method are home delivery, convenience, and competitive prices, which is in line with the literature. On the other hand, the reasons most mentioned by respondents who have never used this method are lack of knowledge of this type of service, pharmacy preference, lack of trust, and lack of advice on products and their use. The results of the interviews may indicate that Portuguese community pharmacists still have limited confidence in the online sale of pharmaceuticals, although favorable opinions are increasing. From these results, it was possible to conclude that it is necessary to implement more effective marketing strategies, adequate organizational structures, and well-defined logistics processes that allow speed and efficiency in transport and delivery

Learn from Uber: a study of dynamic capability in Chinese online pharmacy industry

The rapid development of e-commerce in China has resulted in strong competition in medical e-commerce industry, which has made online pharmacies struggling to maintain their competitive advantage. Dynamic capability is the change-oriented capability that can help online pharmacies keep pace with market development, technology development, and consumer demand changes to obtain sustainable competitive advantages thus to survive in the dynamic environment and access to market share. This dissertation focused on the dynamic capability of Chinese online pharmacy industry. Firstly, we did the literature review of strategy schools and dynamic capability theory, analyzed and summarized the measurements of dynamic capability; secondly, we studied about Uber’s dynamic capabilities; then, as for the field study, we adopted the quantitative method: we distributed questionnaires to investigate the dynamic capability application and importance in Chinese online pharmacy industry; finally, this dissertation drew the conclusion through comparison. From the study we concluded that: dynamic capability is composed by adaptive capability, absorptive capability, and innovative capability; through data analysis we found that there were distance between current application and corresponding importance of dynamic capabilities in Chinese online pharmacies especially in sensitive observing the environment, accessible knowledge management database and knowledge sharing system, and applying new knowledge into innovation.O rápido desenvolvimento do comércio eletrónico na China provocou uma forte concorrência no comércio eletrónico da indústria médica, o que fez com que as farmácias on line tivessem dificuldade em manter as suas vantagens competitivas. A construção de capacidades dinâmicas, as capacidades que permitem reorganizar os recursos para fazer face às mudanças da envolvente, pode ajudar as farmácias a acompanhar as mudanças do mercado e da tecnologia. Esta dissertação analisou as capacidades dinâmicas da indústria farmacêutica on-line Chinesa. Primeiramente, fizemos a revisão de literatura das escolas de pensamento estratégico e das capacidades dinâmicas; depois estudamos as capacidades dinâmicas da empresa Uber e finalmente realizamos um estudo empírico. No estudo empírico adotamos o método quantitativo. Com base na revisão de literatura referente às capacidades dinâmicas, construímos um questionário que foi enviado a pessoas que trabalham nas farmácias. Do estudo concluímos que as farmácias on line necessitam de melhorar asa suas capacidades dinâmicas especialmente na observação da envolvente

Role of community pharmacists in patients' self-care and self-medication

This review highlights the growing prominence of self-care and explores the contribution of community pharmacy. Firstly, background to self-care is discussed, followed by placing self-care in context with regard to the general public and accessing community pharmacy. From this perspective the contribution community pharmacy currently makes is assessed, paying particular attention to the factors that negatively impact on the ability of community pharmacy to facilitate self-care

Society Change or Organisational Evolution? Global or Local e-Pharmacies?

Buying drugs through Internet is known as an Online pharmacy. People can buy various kinds of drugs like Prescription or Over The Counter (OTC). The Online pharmacies generally lure the customers by offering them discount prices. It is not simply selling the drugs through Internet. There are Pharmacists who will be working for the Online pharmacies providing the valuable services to their customers and checking the prescription letters thoroughly before selling the drugs to the customers. Apart from selling drugs to the customers, the online pharmacies can also provide health care information to the customers according to the HON Code (Health On Net) ethics. As the generic drug sector in the Pharmaceutical industry is going to be a boom in the European Union and so the online pharmacies are going to pick up. By 2006, 75% of the ‘Innovative’ drugs are going to lose their patents, this is the reason why generic drugs are going to kick very soon in the market and so the online pharmacies are going to flood. Buying drugs through Internet is a serious issue because it is related to one’s health and hence, there are so many issues related to the Internet drugs in this document in order to go for the safe medicines over the Internet.online pharmacy, OTC, generic drugs, counterfeit drugs

Factors influencing consumer's intention towards e-grocery shopping: An extended technology acceptance model approach

The e-grocery industry in Indonesia is multiplying and is expected to become one of the most important markets in the world. Massive amount of funding for e-grocery start-ups, the high desire of Indonesian consumers to buy grocery products online, and COVID19 are increasing the growth of e-grocery services in Indonesia. Although the desire to use e-grocery services in Indonesia is high, data shows that e-grocery adoption is still far below other e-commerce product categories such as fashion and electronics. Previous research and surveys also show that consumers will return to shopping for wholesale products offline and stop/reduce the use of e-grocery after the COVID19 pandemic. Therefore, this research is interested in examining the factors that can increase the adoption of e-grocery in Indonesia. Quantitative research was conducted using the purposive sampling method and obtained 135 respondents who have ever used e-grocery service/shopping in the JABODETABEK area. Data were analyzed using PLS-SEM (Partial Least Square – Structural Equation Model). The results of this study indicate that perceived risk has a negative effect on Trust. Social Influence, Perceived Usefulness, and Perceived Ease of Use have a positive effect on Trust. Social Influence and Perceived Ease of Use have a positive effect on Perceived Usefulness. However, it turns out that Trust in this study was not proven to affect the intention to use e-grocery services/shopping for grocery products online

Provision and Usage of Medical Services by Community Pharmacy: A Comparative Study of New York, Macao and Zhuhai (China)

Community pharmacies around the world are redefining their roles by experimenting to provide medical services directly to consumers. The aim of this study was to investigate the medical services provided by community pharmacies and consumers’ usage of these medical services. This study was carried out through semi-structured interviews with both community pharmacists and their consumers in New York, Macao and Zhuhai. Community pharmacists reported information about provision of medical services, and consumers provided information about their usage of medical services at community pharmacies accordingly. Through analysis of interview materials it showed that community pharmacies mainly provided free medical examination, reference books and booklet of drug information. Some community pharmacies provided health care lecture and founded own website for medicine information. But touch-screen computer querying system and telephone health care service had not been provided. Additionally the consumers’ usage of medical services at community pharmacy is obviously lower than provision by community pharmacy. The provision level of medical services by community pharmacy was relatively low and the types of medical services were relatively narrow. There was an obvious gap between provision of medical services by community pharmacies and usage of such services by consumers. The position of community pharmacy in national health system and capability of community pharmacy have impact on the medical services of community pharmacies.Key words: Community pharmacy; Medical services; Comparative study; New York; Macao; Zhuhai (China

On-demand medicine delivery services in Germany : an empirical analysis of consumer adoption

On-demand medicine delivery services are taking the next step toward a new e-pharmacy era and last-mile experience of e-commerce. Despite the fact that researchers and marketers are interested in the topic of on-demand delivery services empirical research on customer behavior in this field is limited. Consequently, this research aims to investigate the relation of consumer perceptions, attitudes, and values in the context of e-pharmacy, especially in on-demand medicine delivery services, and complement previous insights on consumer behavior. Empirical results gained through a mixed-methods study with qualitative expert and consumer interviews and a quantitative study with 194 online study respondents provide an overview, identification, and segmentation of consumers in the medicine purchasing environment. Based on the exploratory empirical findings of this study, researchers and marketers may understand the differentiation between consumer groups and their intentions and behaviors towards online medicine purchases. According to the findings, convenience factors like time-saving, urgency, and desired times of delivery as well as ease of use and the consumers' perception of quick delivery services are significant and important antecedent factors for consumer adoption. Further factors like the desired location of delivery, changes in consumers' life situations, and having friends or family using on-demand delivery services also positively impact adoption. This research presents companies and marketers with various practical and theoretical implications for increasing customers' willingness to adopt on-demand medicine delivery services and supports relevant strategy development through empirically verified insights.Os serviços de entrega de medicamentos estão a dar o próximo passo para uma nova era de farmácia eletrónica e na experiência last-mile de comércio eletrónico. Apesar de os investigadores e comerciantes estarem interessados no tema dos serviços de entrega, a investigação empírica sobre o comportamento dos clientes neste campo é limitada. Esta investigação visa estudar a relação das perceções e valores dos consumidores no contexto dos serviços de entrega de medicamentos. Os resultados empíricos obtidos através de um estudo de métodos qualitativos e quantitativos proporcionam uma visão geral, identificação e segmentação dos consumidores no ambiente de compra de medicamentos. Com base nos resultados empíricos exploratórios deste estudo, os investigadores e comerciantes podem compreender a diferença entre grupos de consumidores e as suas intenções e comportamentos em relação às compras de medicamentos online. De acordo com as resultados apurados, fatores de conveniência como a poupança de tempo, urgência e tempos de entrega desejados, bem como a facilidade de utilização e a perceção dos consumidores de serviços de entrega rápida, são fatores antecedentes significativos e importantes para a adoção por parte dos consumidores. Outros fatores como o local de entrega desejado, mudanças na vida dos consumidores, e ter amigos ou familiares a utilizar serviços de entrega também têm um impacto positivo na adoção. Esta investigação apresenta empresas e comerciantes com várias implicações práticas e teóricas para aumentar a vontade dos clientes de adotarem serviços de entrega de medicamentos a pedido

Behavioral Intention Factors for Prescription Deliveries by Small Unmanned Aircraft in Rural Communities

Nearly half of the U.S. population regularly use and depend on prescription medications; however, pharmacy availability and access to pharmacy services are often lacking, particularly in rural communities. In an effort to meet local healthcare needs, delivery by sUAS is proposed to ensure the nearly 60 million rural residents have access to their prescription medications. As an emerging technology with little research into home delivery applications, the successful implementation of sUAS for prescription medication delivery requires public acceptance and positive behavioral intention toward its use. At the time of the current research, no prior studies have specifically focused on the individual factors that impact the behavioral intention of using sUAS for prescription medication delivery. This dissertation developed a modified behavioral research model to determine the factors that influenced individual’s behavioral intention to use sUAS for prescription medication delivery and the relationships between those factors. The model integrated factors from the technology acceptance model (TAM) and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and added the factors of perceived risk and trust. Using random sampling through Amazon MTurk, participants accessed an online cross-sectional survey for data collection. Data analysis included descriptive statistics assessment, CFA analysis, and the full SEM process. Results indicated the research model had strong predictive power of sUAS use for prescription medication delivery with eight of the ten hypotheses supported. One new relationship was identified of subjective norms having a positive influence on perceived risk, though not supported by current literature. Further investigation into the relationship is warranted to better understand the impact. Additionally, all model factors were found to have a direct or indirect impact on behavioral intention, with perceived usefulness, trust, and subjective norms having the strongest effects. The current research filled a gap in existing literature by exploring factors associated with behavioral intention to use sUAS for prescription medication delivery. Additionally, a new research model was provided for identifying influencing factors for behavioral intention of this sUAS application and the nature of the relationships among the factors. Thus, this new model can be used for further sUAS research and may provide an adaptable model for other industries to facilitate new technology implementation

The application of social media for marketing strategies in pharma healthcare

Digital is transforming the way the world does business, and healthcare is no exception. The COVID-19 outbreak has had a significant impact on internet use and accelerated the digital transition worldwide as well as in Portugal. Social media is the fastest communication network among worldwide people. During the outbreak, the usage of social media platforms increased two times more compared with normal days. With increasing health literacy and access to technology, consumers are becoming more informed and proactive towards health issues and selfmedication, 67% of them are researching health problems and symptoms tracking and 81% conduct online research before making a purchase. This change has expanded communication from offline to the internet. Electronic word-of-mouth communication (eWOM), based on social media, brought more variables to marketing communication and became an interesting field for research considering its communication potential. Indeed, several studies have shown the ability to influence interpersonal communications on products or services in the purchase intention of consumers. As so, in recent years, some authors discussed the impact of eWOM on consumer online purchasing decisions; however, the literature is still relatively nascent regarding the Pharmaceutical Industry and the self-medication segment market of Over-the-Counter medicines (OTC). Pharmaceutical companies must be aware of this paradigm change: the patient is an indispensable and active stakeholder in the present and future of healthcare, besides the physician and the payer. Pharma marketing may be moving into a more digitalized space, but there is still room for improvement, especially when it comes to social media there is an unexploited territory for pharma marketers as most pharmaceutical companies are not yet to answer these consumers habits with an effective digital presence. The current research aims to study the application of Social Media platforms for marketing or communication purposes in pharma healthcare in Portugal.digital está a transformar a forma como os negócios se fazem no mundo, e a saúde não é exceção. A pandemia de COVID-19 teve um impacto significativo na utilização da Internet e acelerou a transição digital a nível mundial, incluindo Portugal. Com o aumento da literacia em saúde e o acesso à tecnologia, os consumidores estão a tornar-se mais informados e proativos em relação aos seus cuidados com a saúde e à automedicação, 67% destes pesquisam problemas de saúde e sintomas e 81% realizam pesquisas online antes de fazer uma compra. Esta mudança de comportamento expandiu a comunicação do offline para a Internet. A comunicação electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), baseada nos media sociais, envolve mais variáveis para a comunicação de marketing; nos últimos anos, alguns autores discutiram o impacto do eWOM nas decisões de compra do consumidor online; entretanto, a literatura ainda é relativamente incipiente no que diz respeito à Indústria Farmacêutica e ao segmento de automedicação do mercado de medicamentos de venda livre (OTC). As empresas farmacêuticas devem estar atentas a esta mudança de paradigma: o paciente é uma parte indispensável e ativa no presente e no futuro da área da saúde, além do médico e do pagador. O marketing farmacêutico está a evoluir para a digitalização, mas ainda há espaço para melhorias, especialmente no âmbito das redes sociais que ainda são um território pouco explorado pelos profissionais de marketing farmacêutico. A maioria das empresas farmacêuticas ainda não se adaptou a estes hábitos de consumo com uma presença digital eficaz. A presente investigação pretende identificar a aplicação de plataformas de redes sociais para efeitos de marketing ou comunicação na área da indústria farmacêutica em Portugal