| Description |
There is increasing competition in the field of community pharmacy practice from chain pharmacies and other providers. There is also a lack of available studies which examine pharmacists' attitudes toward marketing and the actual use of marketing in a pharmacy; there is however, literature on "how" to market. It is first necessary to examine the current practices of pharmacists with regard to marketing before the "how" can be implemented. A questionnaire was mailed to 154 independent community pharmacies in the state of Utah. Of these pharmacies, 110 responded; however, only 83 questionnaires (53.9%) were determined to be complete for analysis. The pharmacy managers were asked to provide personal information regarding their education, number of years at present position, and their self-perception of their marketing knowledge. The pharmacy managers were also asked for specific information on the pharmacies in which they work such as professional services offered and marketed, the perceived competition, prescription volume as percent of total sales and the average menthe expenditure on marketing. The pharmacists were also asked about their attitude toward different marketing tools and the frequency of use of these tools for marketing their pharmacy and professional services. Also examined were the possible effects of factors such as attitudes, perceived competition, and volume of business in a pharmacy on the extent of marketing. On the average almost 22% of the respondents perceived the various marketing tools as being "extremely effective" and another 47% felt that these tools were "effective." However, these marketing tools were used by a much lower proportion of pharmacist who thought that they were effective. Exceptions to the rule were word-of-mouth which was used by a large percentage (95.2%) and billboard advertising which was perceived as being effective by a low percentage (19.3%). The yellow pages were perceived as being "ineffective," but were used by a relatively large percentage (92.8%) of the respondents. The average monthly marketing expenditure was $181.7 ± $186.7. This skew to the left is primarily due to the fact that 30% of the pharmacist spent less than $50.00 per month on marketing. Results indicate that the attitudes of pharmacists toward marketing and perceived competition have very little apparent influence on average monthly marketing expenditures and the frequency of use of different marketing tools. Few pharmacists reported using competition surveys and analysis of pharmacy strengths and weaknesses relative to the average number of prescriptions dispensed per day and the extent of marketing. The variables examined in this study suggest that there may be very little influence on the extent of marketing from pharmacists' attitudes towards marketing, perceived competition, and volume of prescription as a percent of total sales. To better understand the marketing decisions of pharmacists in an independent computing pharmacy, factors such as cost of marketing, time required for marketing activities, the perception for the need to market, and differentiation between pharmacies based on geographical location may also be necessary. |
