Title: A study on Consumer Behavior on Pharmaceutical Business Consumerism

during Pandemic at Pinky’s Pharmacy, Koronadal City

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Rationale
Over the past decades, people have learned to cope with various global pandemic that

treacherously claimed many lives and almost decimated the world population. However,

the threats posed was not able to withstand the coping mechanisms and imposed

restrictions by the government in order to counter the challenges of time.

In times of pandemic, government plays a major role on the imposition of strategies,

enforcement, and restrictions that can be adopted by communities in order to continue

living in a normal way and to balance the fulfillment of the needs of the people while

requiring them to abide the implemented measures to prevent them from being getting

infected with the virus. As the regulation varies from one place to another, it has

impacted the way how people strategize or devise measures to fulfill the most essential

things in life such as the basic needs.

According to Cherry (2014), “Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs is one of the best-

known theories of motivation. Maslow's theory states that our actions are motivated by

certain physiological needs. It is often represented by a pyramid of needs, with the most

basic needs at the bottom and more complex needs at the top”. Abraham Maslow’s

hierarchy of needs are physiological needs, safety and security, love and belonging,
esteem, and self-actualization. This law explains the tendency of having options that

humans prioritized most to satisfy their needs.

In the present COVID-19 pandemic, the area of concentration was merely focused on

the health care system in order to provide an immediate care to the individuals afflicted

with COVID-19 virus. It includes the control procedure to contain the virus, development

of medicines and vaccines that can be used to restore and preserve life.

Pharmaceutical businesses becomes highly in demand for medicines that are available

to counter the ill effects of the virus as well as to improve one’s immune system.

In Koronadal City, COVID-19 pandemic has brought many businesses down and

various sectors were greatly affected and left halted. On the other hand, consumer

behavior changes and medicines become highly in demand in the market. This concern

for increasing demand on pharmaceutical medicine requires to be studied to establish

the facts in terms of the factors affecting consumerism.

It is important to identify the factors that affects consumer behavior during COVID-19

pandemic to acquire idea that can be used to pre-empt the possible change in the

preference of consumers as well as to effectively cope up with the supply or need.

In addition, the factors that affects consumer behavior can be used to check whether

prices of medicines really affect the way a consumer behaves or the way a consumer

respond to the situation is somehow influenced by culture, preferences, income, or

psychological factors. External factors may also be considered such as implemented

regulations and pre-existing laws enforced to contain the proliferation of COVID-19

virus.
Also, properly monitored to identify the right kind of medicine to be produced in the

market and to prepare for the available supply whenever surges in demand becomes

relevant.

Research Objective

General Objective:

This study aims to identify the factors that affect consumers buying decision on

medicines of Pinky’s Pharmacy in Koronadal City.

Specific Objectives

1. Determine the demographic profile of respondents in terms of:

1.1 Age;

1.2 Gender;

1.3 Occupation;

1.4 Source of Income; and

1.5 Monthly Income

2. Identify the factors that affects consumer behavior at Pinky’s Pharmacy in

Koronadal City in terms of:

2.1 Economic Factors;

2.2 Personal Factors;

2.3 Psychological Factors; and

2.4 Social Factors;

3. To determine the perception of consumers towards medicines

4. To examine the extent to which price influences the consumers’ purchase decision

of pharmaceutical products at Pinky’s pharmacy

Review of Related Literature

According to Srivastava and Wagh (2017), “factors influencing the consumer

purchase behaviour are analysed on quantitative and qualitative features. It was

observed that five factors – influencers, reliability, awareness, corporate image, and

promotion – are responsible for the purchase of over-the-counter pharmaceutical

products”. There were three hundred respondents participated the study. One hundred

respondents each from Mumbai, Nashik, and Pimpalgaon in India. The research

conducted was considered exploratory in the nature and was based on the primary data

collected through a questionnaire. The study reveals that the purchasing and

repurchasing over-the-counter (OTC) pharmaceutical products, will be of great help to

the marketers to have an idea on the kind of medicine to produce.

On the other hand, according to Kotler et al., (2005), “generic products are less

expensive and often offer prices as much as 40 percent lower than those of main

brands. Generic prescription of drug costs less for the consumer but have comparable

effect. The US food and drug administration (FDA), which regulates the pharmaceutical

market in the United States, allows drug companies to roduce a comparable drug and

call it by its generic name. FDA defines generic medicines as a drug product that is

comparable to innovator product (brand drug) in dosage form, strength, safety, route of

administration, quality and performance characteristics, and intended use (Dipiro T. et

al., 2003)”. This statement describe the factor that prices may affect the consumer

behavior from buying pharmaceutical drugs.

 Similar study in St. Mary's University, Ethiopia entitled: “Factors Affecting

Consumers’ Buying Decisions of Medicines of Different Country Origin: In Particular

Reference to Addis Ababa” states that the study used convenience sampling method to

select 177 pharmacies located in the four sub-cities of Addis Ababa and distributed a

total of 200 questioners to consumers’ who visited the selected pharmacies during the

data collection period revealed that most of the consumers are male, in which the

majority lies within 25-31 years of age. More than 50% of the respondents have diploma

and above and most of them earn an income range between 1000-3999. Price and

country of origin of the medicine have an impact on purchasing decision of consumers,

and Price may also have an impact on purchasing decision of some consumers.

Significant number of consumers tends to relate the price of the medicine with its

effectiveness and some of them belief that expensive medicines are more effective than

the cheapest one. However,

most of them does not considered that expensive medicines are more effective that the

cheapest one.
Theoretical Framework

This study is anchored with Consumer Behavior Theories such as Maslow’s

Theory of Motivation, Howard-Sheth Model, Economic Theory (Marshallian Model),

Psychoanalytic or Freudian Theory, Learning Theory (Pavlovian Model), and Consumer

Theory that govern the factors which affects consumerism.

Figure 1. The Theories of Consumer Behavior (Shrotriya, 2014)

Maslow’s Theory of Motivation: One of the renowned theories is this one,

which represents the consumer needs in the form of a hierarchy. Where the pyramid’s

bottom-most level comprises of physiological needs, then moving upwards to safety,

social needs and esteem. Finally reaching the peak i.e., self-actualization needs.

Howard-Sheth Model: The Howard-Sheth model studies the impact of various

psychological, social and marketing factors over the buying decision of a consumer. It
analyzes the input, information processing and output derived by the buyer while

proceeding with a product purchase.

Economic Theory (Marshallian Model): This model considers the law

diminishing marginal utility as a determinant of consumer behaviour. It focuses on the

way a consumer allocates his/her limited resource to generate the highest possible

utility. It studies the effect of price, income and substitution on consumer behaviour.

Psychoanalytic or Freudian Theory: The psychoanalytic theory pitched the

role of the unconscious mind on what a consumer buys. It reveals consumer decision-

making as a combined effort of the id (impulsive and primitive part), ego (realistic part)

and superego (moral sense) which are the different consciousness levels of an

individual.

Learning Theory (Pavlovian Model): This model identifies the four key forces

i.e., drives (internal stimulus), stimuli (inputs stimulating motives), cues (signal) and

responses (reaction) which have a significant impact on the consumer needs and

behaviour.

Consumer Theory (Levin & Milgrom, 2004). This theory describes how

consumers allocate resources such as income among goods and services to maximize

utility.  There are three distinct steps such as consumer preferences, budget

constraints, and consumer choices. The decision of the individual lies on preferences

and budget constraints.

Conceptual Framework

Independent Variable Dependent Variable

Consumer Behavior
Pharmaceutical business
consumerism

Sub-Variable

Economic Factors
Personal Factors
Social Factors
Psychological Factors

Figure 2. Conceptual Framework of Consumer Behavior on Pharmaceutical

Business
 Figure 2 describes the relationship between consumer behavior and

pharmaceutical business consumerism. The consumer behavior is considered as an

independent variable consisting of sub-variables such as economic factors, personal

factors, psychological factors, and cultural and social factors. Economic factors are

composed of personal income or family income, expectations regarding the future

income, liquid assets and consumer credit or level of standard of living; personal factors

are classified as age, occupation, life cycle stage or lifestyle, and personality and

concept; social factors such as culture, social class or social groups, opinion leaders

and role and status; and psychological factors such as motivation, involvement,

perception, learning, lifestyle, and attitude (see Figure 3 below). The pharmaceutical

business consumerism is a dependent variable because it affected by consumer

behavior. It means that a change in obtaining goods and services made by consumers

reflects the kind of products consumed in the pharmacy.

Fig

ure 3. Conceptual Framework of Factors Influencing Consumer Behavior

Significance of the study

To the Pinky’s Pharmacy, the study will help in determining the factors which affects

consumer behavior and understand the consumers’ preference and choice in terms of

drug consumption, predict the possible pharmaceutical supply to be requested and

sold, and to cope up with the increasing market demands of pharmaceutical supplies.

To Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Colleges, Inc. – Koronadal City, the study will

serve as a contribution to the body of knowledge and may be used as a reference

material for the future researchers in conducting surveys and related studies. Hence,

this material may be utilized by the school for academic purposes and is authorized for

safekeeping, reproduction, and distribution of this material.

To the future researchers, the result of this study will be used as guide in

conducting future researches and may be continued or improved to accommodate a

collective study with other pharmaceutical businesses in the region.

Definition of terms

Consumer Behavior- refers to the way a consumer behaves including the factors

which affect the buying decision of consumers on obtaining goods and services.

Pandemic- is a term of an outbreak of COVID-19 disease across the world. The term

used to refer to a global public health emergency.

Pharmaceutical Businesses- refers to any businesses that distribute, supply, or offer

to sale good and services such as medical stocks or supplies available for

consumption.
Pharmacy- a physical store that offers medicine supplies for consumption.

Pharmaceutical Business Consumerism- The term referring to consumption of

pharmaceutical goods and services.

Pinky’s Pharmaceutical Business- a local pharmacy located at Koronadal City and is

the subject of the study. It will serve as the source of data and the origin of survey.

Other terms used to refer the pharmacy are Pinky’s Pharmacy.

Chapter II

METHOD

Research Design

PROCESSING &
DATA GATHERING RESULTS
ANALYSIS

Figure 3. Research Methodology

The researcher will start with data gathering which involves survey questionnaire

and supported by an interview with the manager and staff of Pinky’s Pharmacy to get

meaningful insights and to have a general background of the pharmacy.

The second stage is processing and analysis, in this stage the researcher will

utilize statistical tools such as creating tables, charts and graphs to visualize data for

easier analysis and interpretation. The results are expressed as mean, percentage,

standard deviation, and frequency distribution. Both quantitative and qualitative

approach will be utilized to support the study.

 The final stage is the results, the output of processing and analysis will

constitute the result such as the factors of consumer behavior on pharmaceutical

business.

Research Locale

The study will be conducted at Pinky’s Pharmacy located at Emilio Aguinaldo

Street, Barangay Zone 3, Koronadal City, South Cotabato.

Population and Sample

The sampling procedure utilized by the researcher was purposive sampling

technique in the selection of respondents of the study.

The researcher determined the population of the respondents approximately 300

every month. The target respondents of the researchers were thirty (30).

Research Instrument

The researcher designed a self-administered survey questionnaire as the main

tool to be utilized in data gathering. The questions were refined based on the factors

which affects consumer behavior. The questions were classified in terms of economic

factors, personal factors, psychological factors, and social factors. In addition, an

interview were used to obtain an initial information on the consumers’ buying behavior

before pandemic.

Data Gathering
 To facilitate the research, a letter request was submitted to the Pinky’s Pharmacy

requesting the pharmaceutical business as the subject of the research and respondents

will be given a survey questionnaire. The survey will be scheduled to gather data about

consumer behavior in response to purchasing medicines. All information filled in by the

customers will be treated with utmost confidentiality. The respondent’s name is optional

as long as a signature was affixed below the questionnaire to ensure the integrity of the

survey. After answering the survey questionnaire, the respondents’ data will be

collected, processed, and analyzed using the applied statistical tools to identify the

factors which affects consumer behavior.

Statistical Tools

The available free and open source statistical software will be used as a tool to

generate graphs, charts, and to visualize the data such as air table, Statistical Package

for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Excel program will also be employed in the research.

Ethical Consideration

This research obtained its data and information with the permission from the

proprietor of Pinky’s Pharmacy. All data and information disclosed by the respondents

are considered with utmost confidentiality and privacy. In this case, confidentiality and

privacy must be protected as defined by the Data Privacy Act of 2012 of the Republic of

the Philippines.
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ASPE Staff. (2010) Expanding the Use of Generic Drugs. Available from ASPE.hhs.gov

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Appendices

A Letter to the Validators

B Validation Sheet for the Research Questionnaire/ Developed

Materials

C Research Questionnaire/ Developed Materials

D Summary of Validators’ Rating on Questionnaire

E Compliance Certificate for Study Ethics Protocol Review

F Letter of Permission to conduct Study

G Clearance to Conduct Study

H Certificate of Appearance

I Public Research Forum Certificate

J Specific Items per Indicator for Tables

K Editor’s Certification
L Plagiarism Checker Result

M Curriculum Vitae of the External Validator

CURRICULUM VITAE