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Effects of Demographic Characteristics and Consumer Behavior in the selection of Retail Pharmacies and Over-the-Counter Medicine Cover

Effects of Demographic Characteristics and Consumer Behavior in the selection of Retail Pharmacies and Over-the-Counter Medicine

Open Access
|Mar 2022

Figures & Tables

Importance of the (a) pharmacy staff in the choice of pharmacy across educational level and occupation, importance of the (b) product's advertisement and the (c) pharmacist's opinion in the choice of over-the-counter medicine across occupation_

VariableEducational levelnMeanSD
(a) Pharmacy staffPrimary school154.331.39
Gymnasium (lower secondary)454.550.69
Lyceum (upper secondary)1104.200.92
University903.951.06
Post-graduate254.160.80
Doctorate124.500.52
Total2974.190.96
Occupation
(a) Pharmacy staffStudent153.601.12
Unemployed333.631.24
Homemaker424.330.75
Part-time worker203.900.91
Full-time worker874.180.99
Self-employed183.830.78
Retired844.630.67
Total2994.200.96
Occupation
(b) Product's advertisementStudent152.931.22
Unemployed342.821.35
Homemaker422.921.31
Part-time worker203.051.23
Full-time worker873.281.04
Self-employed182.331.13
Retired842.841.19
Total3002.971.20
(c) Pharmacist's opinionStudent153.930.59
Unemployed344.050.98
Homemaker424.520.77
Part-time worker204.200.69
Full-time worker864.310.77
Self-employed184.000.76
Retired844.470.71
Total2994.310.78

Spearman's correlations among factors influencing (a) the choice of pharmacy and (b) the purchase of OTC medicine_

(a) Pharmacy criteria12345678
The pharmacy's location (1)-
The pharmacy staff (2)0.29**-
The product range (3)0.26**0.25**-
The additional services (4)0.15**0.25**0.40**-
The membership programme (5)0.04ns0.21**0.22**0.46**-
Anonymity/confidentiality (6)0.11ns0.35**0.30**0.29**0.22**-
The store's atmosphere (7)0.22**0.40**0.39**0.35**0.21**0.41**-
The opening hours (8)0.30**0.19**0.21**0.21**0.18**0.22**0.27**-
(b) OTC product criteria12345678
The drug's country of origin (1)-
The manufacturing company (2)0.77**-
Packaging (3)0.36**0.38**-
Experience of a previous use (4)0.26**0.28**0.13*-
The product's advertisement (5)0.01ns0.06ns0.29**0.11ns-
The pharmacist's opinion (6)0.05ns0.06ns0.02ns0.18**0.13*-
Family's/friends’ opinion (7)0.01ns0.06ns0.17**0.10ns0.38**0.21**-
The product's price (8)0.07ns0.09ns0.19**0.05ns0.00ns0.30**0.15**-

(a) Tendency to make purchases in a single pharmacy across educational level and occupation; (b) relationship with the pharmacy staff across occupation; (c) purchase patterns of over-the-counter medicine across educational level; (d) unscheduled purchases of over-the-counter medicine across gender and occupation_

(a) ‘I tend to make my purchases in a single pharmacy’
Educational levelYes, alwaysYes, most of the timeNo, I make my purchases in various pharmaciesTotal
Primary school11 (73.3%)3 (20.0%)1 (6.7%)15 (100.0%)
Gymnasium (lower secondary)21 (46.7%)19 (42.2%)5 (11.1%)45 (100.0%)
Lyceum (upper secondary)32 (29.1%)50 (45.5%)28 (25.5%)110 (100.0%)
University24 (26.7%)41 (45.6%)25 (27.8%)90 (100.0%)
Post-graduate3 (12.0%)10 (56.0%)8 (32.0%)25 (100.0%)
Doctorate3 (25.0%)6 (50.0%)3 (25.0%)12 (100.0%)
Total94 (31.6%)133 (44.8%)70 (23.6%)297 (100.0%)
OccupationYes, alwaysYes, most of the timeNo, I make my purchases in various pharmaciesTotal
Student1 (6.7%)8 (53.3%)6 (40.0%)15 (100.0%)
Unemployed5 (14.7%)14 (41.2%)15 (44.1%)34 (100.0%)
Homemaker14 (34.1%)18 (43.9%)9 (22.0%)41 (100.0%)
Part-time worker4 (20.0%)8 (40.0%)8 (40.0%)20 (100.0%)
Full-time worker16 (18.4%)46 (52.9%)25 (28.7%)87 (100.0%)
Self-employed3 (16.7%)10 (55.6%)5 (27.8%)18 (100.0%)
Retired52 (61.9%)30 (35.7%)2 (2.4%)84 (100.0%)
Total95 (31.8%)134 (44.8%)70 (23.4%)299 (100.0%)
(b) ‘Regarding my relationship with the pharmacy staff’
OccupationI want it to be familiarI want it to be formalI don’t want the staff to recognise meTotal
Student3 (20.0%)12 (80.0%)0 (0.0%)15 (100.0%)
Unemployed17 (50.0%)14 (41.2%)3 (8.8%)34 (100.0%)
Homemaker28 (68.3%)11 (26.8%)2 (4.9%)41 (100.0%)
Part-time worker13 (65.0%)7 (35.0%)0 (0.0%)20 (100.0%)
Full-time worker57 (65.5%)25 (28.7%)5 (5.7%)87 (100.0%)
Self-employed13 (72.2%)5 (27.8%)0 (0.0%)18 (100.0%)
Retired75 (89.3%)7 (8.3%)2 (2.4%)84 (100.0%)
Total206 (68.9%)81 (27.1%)12 (4.0%)299 (100.0%)
(c) ‘When I purchase an over-the-counter drug, I usually’
Educational levelI know exactly what I needI know approximately what I needI don’t know what I needTotal
Primary school12 (80.0%)0 (0.0%)3 (20.0%)15 (100.0%)
Gymnasium (lower secondary)23 (51.1%)21 (46.7%)1 (2.2%)45 (100.0%)
Lyceum (upper secondary)57 (51.4%)49 (44.1%)5 (4.5%)111 (100.0%)
University42 (48.3%)43 (49.4%)2 (2.3%)87 (100.0%)
Post-graduate14 (56.0%)11 (44.0%)0 (0.0%)25 (100.0%)
Doctorate7 (58.3%)5 (41.7%)0 (0.0%)12 (100.0%)
Total155 (52.5%)129 (43.7%)11 (3.7%)295 (100.0%)
(d) ‘When I am in a pharmacy, I tend to make unscheduled purchases of over-the-counter drugs’
GenderYes, oftenYes, sometimesNo, neverTotal
Female8 (4.4%)96 (52.5%)79 (43.2%)183 (100.0%)
Male8 (7.0%)43 (37.7%)63 (55.3%)114 (100.0%)
Total16 (5.4%)139 (46.8%)142 (47.8%)297 (100.0%)
OccupationYes, oftenYes, sometimesNo, neverTotal
Student0 (0.0%)7 (46.7%)8 (53.3%)15 (100.0%)
Unemployed4 (12.1%)14 (42.4%)15 (45.5%)33 (100.0%)
Homemaker5 (11.9%)25 (59.5%)12 (28.6%)42 (100.0%)
Part-time worker1 (5.0%)12 (60.0%)7 (35.0%)20 (100.0%)
Full-time worker0 (0.0%)42 (48.8%)44 (51.2%)86 (100.0%)
Self-employed1 (5.6%)8 (44.4%)9 (50.0%)18 (100.0%)
Retired5 (6.0%)31 (37.3%)47 (56.6%)83 (100.0%)
Total16 (5.4%)139 (46.8%)142 (47.8%)297 (100.0%)

Importance of the (a) product's country of origin, (b) manufacturing company and (c) the pharmacist's opinion in the choice of over-the-counter medicine across income level_

VariablesIncomenMeanSD
(a) Product's country of originUnder 400 €863.391.22
400–800 €963.481.20
801–1200 €773.931.13
1201–1600 €243.910.88
1601–2000 €93.551.13
Over 2000 €64.330.81
Total2983.631.17
(b) Product's manufacturing companyUnder 400 €863.291.28
400–800 €953.241.26
801–1200 €773.871.03
1201–1600 €243.870.89
1601–2000 €93.881.16
Over 2000 €64.160.98
Total2973.501.20
(c) Pharmacist's opinionUnder 400 €864.180.86
400–800 €964.440.73
801–1200 €784.420.71
1201–1600 €244.040.75
1601–2000 €94.220.83
Over 2000 €63.830.98
Total2994.310.78
Language: English
Page range: 27 - 40
Submitted on: Apr 14, 2018
Accepted on: Jun 1, 2018
Published on: Mar 1, 2022
Published by: Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Pharmacy
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 2 issues per year
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© 2022 D.P. Kevrekidis, D. Mináriková, A. Markos, published by Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Pharmacy
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.