SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF THE ROMANIAN PATIENT REGARDING THE FACTORS INFLUENCING THE CHOICE OF A PHARMACY USING LOGISTIC REGRESSION AND FACTOR ANALYSIS

Abstract

Segmentation and targeting are very important steps in the marketing activity to create the pharmacy's best positioning. Knowing more about the composition and interests of patients' segments will help pharmacies properly design the mix of services and the marketing approach. The current study is based on a quantitative market research performed in 2012 with a transversal design from 1478 valid questionnaires for a representative sample of the Romanian adult population. We used logistic regression to check the association and the direction of the association for each variable regarding the reasons for choosing a pharmacy (price, availability of products, attitude of the pharmacist and proximity), with the socio-demographic variables. We also conducted an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) on those variables and identified three behavioural groups: i) Pharmacy driven, ii) Pharmacist driven, and iii) Pragmatic driven people. Pharmacy driven group are interested in the pharmacy itself and its characteristics (recommended by a doctor, part of a retail chain, with good availability of medicines, generous opening hours and offering certain commercial effects such as discounts or promotions). Pharmacist driven consist of patients interested in a specific the pharmacist due to her/his professionalism and interaction with the patients. The pragmatic group was influenced by the prices and the proximity of the pharmacy to their domicile.