Relationship marketing in the pharmaceutical industry

Abstract

Background: Patients trust the treatment choices that can make a difference to their health to physicians, giving room for an agency relationship to be established between both stakeholders. Additionally, pharmaceutical companies, which belong to one the most profitable sectors, invest a lot of money to get recognition of their brands by physicians, which may include, many times, a transfer of value from the manufacturers to medical doctors. These ways of working can be viewed with caution by the general public, as it can give room for a potential conflict of interest towards the ultimate endpoint, that is improving patients’ health. Despite this potential misperception, pharmaceutical companies keep their ways of working.The objective of this work is to study the relationship between pharmaceutical industry and physicians on prescription behaviour, and the exact role it may play.Methods: To study this problem statement, in an attempt to answer it, a combination of methods will be used. Literary review will be conducted to assess updated information on the problem being studied. This also includes checking information in Plataforma da Transparência of INFARMED, I.P. Nonetheless, the subject of this dissertation work will be mainly assessed through primary data collected via a market research study targeted to HIV physicians.Results: Fourty two HIV specialists participated in this market research. Efficacy was by far the most important attribute they value when selecting a treatment regimen. The combined three attributes that matter the most when choosing a treatment were efficacy, safety and convenience. The effectiveness on how companies communicated these attributes was found to have a positive impact on their prescription choices. Additionally, it was found that promotional sessions positively impact the prescription behaviour of physicians.Conclusion: No major effects on prescription behaviour were found for most of the marketing activities performed by pharmaceutical companies, with exception for promotional sessions, that were found to have a positive impact on the prescription behaviour for naïve patients.

Date of Award	3 May 2021
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Pedro Celeste (Supervisor)