The pharmaceutical market is experiencing significantly amplified research and development costs, as well as increasing price and other competitive pressures. This article presents a much-needed systematic review of the literature relevant to pharmaceutical marketing. The authors find that the order-of-entry effect is critical in the sector, but that both early-and late-entry strategies can be effective when coupled with the appropriate marketing strategies. Within this context, the present study reveals that promotion policy is the most relevant, followed by price policy, with product design policy surprisingly only third in importance. Distribution (place) is the least relevant in the pharmaceutical context. These findings are used to drive an agenda for future research in pharmaceutical marketing.

No abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the most relevant marketing factors and examine existing theories and to provide guidance for planning future studies. Since drug markets are very complex, this paper will focus on a particular market/country to reduce some of this complexity.Design/methodology/approachA serial research study is undertaken to examine the essential marketing success factors by means of two qualitative studies applying Focus group and Delphi survey techniques. Swiss healthcare professionals in middle and senior management positions (Focus group n=5, Delphi group n=11) are asked to voice their personal opinion regarding the importance of various factors that might influence the turnover of prescription drugs. The fundamental findings derived from the Focus group interview are used for the Delphi group survey set‐up. To reach a consensus within the Delphi group, a three‐step interactive procedure is applied. For the evaluation of the Focus group results, a content analysis is performed. The results of the Delphi study are investigated, using descriptive statistics.FindingsThe paper ultimately yields a ranking of 29 instruments perceived to be important in the marketing of pharmaceuticals in Switzerland. With this paper, the proposed model and its propositions could be supported.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper investigates their relevance based upon practical experience of Swiss health care professionals and is therefore somewhat limited to the Swiss market.Practical implicationsIn the Swiss market, successful marketing has to consider appropriate product properties including issues such as efficacy and safety plus a promotion policy that emphasizes relationship with opinion leaders and personal selling. Additionally, it is vital that the product is also distributed via sales channels such as hospitals and physicians and that the product will be reimbursed by health insurance.Originality/valueThese findings will enable pharmaceutical companies to improve their sales success. The proposed model can be extended to other markets and countries.

The textile industry has been massively affected by structural changes in recent years. The fashion market is currently in a phase of stagnation. This means that market saturation has been reached, competition between companies and retailers has increased, and predatory competition has set in. Gains in market share are mainly achieved through an aggressive pricing policy, for example, through earlier price reductions. Nonetheless, there are still uncertainties regarding specific product mix-related marketing measures in fashion markets. There is a lack of scientific evidence about the exact proportion of product mixrelated marketing measures used. As an aim, this study focuses on the effects of various influencing factors on consumer loyalty. Factors examined include product quality, product selection, service quality and price-to-performance ratio. To investigate the proportion of the chosen marketing measures, a conceptual model was proposed, four hypotheses were derived. In order to shed more light on fashion markets related marketing measures, the research methodology of cross-sectional face-to-face survey research was applied. For this purpose, randomly sampled fashion shoppers were asked to answer a questionnaire, using tablets. The collected data were then analysed using multiple regression and evaluated. Implications for Central European audience: The study has derived some remarkable key findings that contrast with other non-fashion markets. First of all, service quality is not the most important factor, whereas product quality is an important criterion for the price-toproduct ratio and consequently, for customer loyalty. Finally, practical guidelines are provided, limitations discussed and suggestions for future research provided.