Impact of Pharmaceutical Sales Promotion on Prescribing Behaviour among Doctors in Selected Hospitals
The study aimed to determine the impact of pharmaceutical sales promotion on prescribing behaviour among doctors in selected private hospitals in Nyamagana District, Mwanza, Tanzania. The study tested four variables of marketing namely, drug advertising, direct marketing, personal selling and incentives. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) was used to underpin the study and to develop research hypothesis. A sample of 171 doctors was drawn from the targeted population of 240 doctors from the selected private hospitals. The study achieved a response rate of 87.13%, with primary data collected from respondents using self-administered closed-ended questionnaires. Data were analyzed using SPSS v26. Both descriptive and inferential statistics (correlation and regression) were employed to establish the relationships between pharmaceutical sales promotion constructs and doctors’ prescribing behaviour. The study’s findings revealed that direct marketing (DM) and drug advertising (DA) had a negative and insignificant relationship, while personal sales (PS) and incentives and sponsorship (IS) had a positive and significant relationship. The study concludes that pharmaceutical sales promotion strategies significantly influence doctors’ prescribing behaviour. Similarly, the study recommends that drug manufacturers and marketers should employ sales promotion tools that emphasize ethical compliance and maintain professionalism among those responsible for selecting medications.
Keywords: PSP strategies; prescription decisions; regulatory authorities; private hospitals, Doctors’ Prescribing Behaviours; Theory of Planned Behavior; pharmaceutical industry
