Influence of Relationship Marketing on Physician Loyalty in Pharmaceutical Industry
Date Issued
2011
Date
2011
Author(s)
Yeh, Yi-Liang
Abstract
Advertising for drugs is illegal In Taiwan. If Pharmaceutical companies want to get the marketing performance target, they should sell drugs through physicians to the end-users, that is, patients. By affecting physicians’ prescription to create patients demands the physicians plays a key intermediary role in this marketing model. Due to regulatory restrictions and the instructions of International Research-based Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association(IRPMA), now pharmaceutical companies may make some corrections or search for strategies to make business operations more efficiently and develop a special marketing strategy to influence the physicians’ drug prescription. In the past few decades, marketing environment trends showed the marketing strategies pharmaceutical companies using except traditional single transaction but trying to establish and maintain long-term relationships with customers and competing with the rivals.
Scholar Berry (1983) believes that marketing strategy gradually transferred from attracting new customers to maintaining the existing customer and strengthening customer loyalty, establishing long-term relationships with customers. In addition, long-term relationships with customers can save costs and increase profits, that is relationship marketing(Reichheld & Sasser, 1990). Long-term relationships with customers in the pharmaceutical industry can benefit customers also the companies. When the customers evaluate the benefits of long-term relationships is higher than the costs then customers will perceive maintaining the relationship is worthy, and more willing to maintain long-term relationship. However, the physician plays a key role in this industry.
Therefore, this study is to examine how relationship marketing theory work in pharmaceutical companies and the influence on physician loyalty. This study integrates relevant research to propose a comprehensive conceptual framework. In this framework, relationship benefit as independent variable influence physician loyalty through one mediator, relationship quality. This study investigate the relationship marketing operation and characteristics in pharmaceutical industry, in order to understand the relationship between the pharmaceutical companies and physicians, The sample of this study came from the name lists of Taiwan Society of Cardiology and using internet questionnaires by mails.
The results showed that the relationship benefit will affect the relationship quality, and relationship quality will also affect the loyalty, and found that the relationship benefit between pharmaceutical industry and the physicians can be divided into two categories, the scope of business operation contacts related to the medical professional operation is business relationship benefit , and the other beyond the work contacts is related to personal friendship and social network is non-business relationship benefit. The relationship quality is concentrated to on variable, showing that, trust, satisfaction, commitment variables between the pharmaceutical companies and physicians cannot be split, presumably the relationship marketing in this industry has two characteristics: (1) long-term relationship between physicians and pharmaceutical companies, need to have trust in order to further commitment to maintain this long-term relationship, the other characteristics of the nature of this industry.(2)The medical profession should be based on the trust and satisfaction first, then the commitment to further long-term relationships, so the relationship quality and contents are inseparable. According to the research findings, we may provide the pharmaceutical companies with some insightful information. That is, to increase relationship quality on medical professional relevant business benefit is very helpful to strengthen the physician loyalty.
Subjects
Relationship marketing
Relationship benefit
Rrelationship quality
Physician loyalty
Pharmaceutical industry
Type
thesis
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
Loading...
Name
ntu-100-R98843013-1.pdf
Size
23.32 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum
(MD5):bacc5f4984cd4b62986837c9ca54165d