Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of country of origin image on brand equity of branded generic drugs. Design/methodology/approach -Brand equity of branded generics is examined through an analytical review. Country of origin image is hypothesised to influence components of brand equity, i.e. brand strength and brand awareness, which in turn influence brand equity. An empirical investigation was carried out among professionally similar respondents, i.e. doctors of different categories in Kolkata megapolis, India. Findings -Results showed that country of origin image had a positive and significant effect on components of brand equity, i.e. brand strength and brand awareness, derived from factor analysis conducted on brand equity components. The result also showed that country of origin image of branded generics significantly, but indirectly, affected brand equity through the mediating variables, brand strength and brand awareness. Research limitations/implications -Different variables have influence on brand equity. This study dealt with only one type of variable, i.e. country of origin image, that may limit the total process of brand equity enhancement. Practical implications -Marketing actions should be implemented to enhance brand strength and awareness levels. Country of origin image should be assessed as a multidimensional concept for enhancing brand equity. Marketers should be aware of the fact that physicians are influenced by the brand's original country image. Originality/value -This research work has extended prior country of origin research by conceptualising the country of origin image as a brand equity enhancing tool in a new area called branded generic drugs.

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to find out the relationship between the qualities of generic drugs perceived by the physicians and brand equity of the branded generics and to examine the physicians' perceptions of prescribing generic drugs for selective medical conditions in India. Design/methodology/approach -The study was carried out across six major cities in Eastern India with 392 physicians. Here components of perceived quality, i.e. intrinsic cues and extrinsic cues are hypothesized to influence perceived quality of branded generics which in turn influence brand equity. It is also hypothesized that respondents' quality experience is assimilated towards their quality expectations, independent of small variations in objective quality of the drug. Findings -Results showed that perceived quality of branded generics significantly, but indirectly, affected brand equity through the mediating variables, intrinsic cues and extrinsic cues. The results also showed that physicians' quality experience leads to quality expectations, independent of small variations in drug quality on five common yet serious diseases in India. Practical implications -Current research finds that for prescription-based branded generic drugs, perceived quality mainly depends on intrinsic cues; therefore, managers should be interested in intrinsic cues that increase brand equity and necessary marketing actions should be implemented accordingly. Originality/value -No other scholarly article has been developed, so far, analyzing the effect of perceived quality on brand equity in the Indian branded generic drug segment. Besides providing evidence from the Indian pharmaceutical context about the impact of quality cues, the paper also presents evidence on physicians' quality observation of branded generics on five common yet serious diseases in India.

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the physicians’ attitude toward branded generic drugs in prescribing those drugs in some selective medical conditions and to identify the factors that influence physicians’ behavior toward prescribing branded generic drugs in the said selective medical conditions. Design/methodology/approach The study was carried out across six major cities in eastern India with 301 physicians. The current study introduced some significant elements into the modified technology acceptance model (TAM) with title the extended tam for product usage (TETPU) to analyze the prescribing factors that influence physicians in five common yet serious medical conditions in India. Out of nine factors considered here, seven were selected from the previous literature studies of different product segments and two were proposed by the authors. Demographic factor was proposed as the confounding variable. Findings The results indicated that apart from the factors “perceived no need” and “physicians’ perception and need achievement” rest of the factors showed satisfactory to excellent results. Practical implications The current study findings may enable the pharmaceutical managers to revise or modify their current marketing communication and other brand-building strategies so as to achieve a superior performance that offers them a competitive advantage. Originality/value The paper fulfils a need for advancing the knowledge on the physician’s prescription influencing factors by introducing the newer aspects of the concept and offers a theoretical framework for the academia and practical framework for the managers who desire to implement the strategies to achieve competitive advantage.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to address how the concept of branding exists in the pharmaceutical sector and Indian market in particular; and second, how this branding technique might be modified to optimize the marketing of branded generics in India. Design/methodology/approach -The study was conducted using qualitative interviews with two sets of respondents in Kolkata city, India: first, 20 senior managers of five renowned Indian pharmaceutical companies and second, 20 physicians of two categories. Patterns of concordance for the author-coder pairs were tested by using Cohen's kappa. Findings -This study investigated the relationships between five different parameters deemed responsible for enhancing the brand awareness of pharmaceuticals. Out of these five parameters, the authors have identified that "importance of customers' perceptions and need achievement" leads to the development of a positioning statement to communicate the brand's functional values and brand personality; and "importance of pharma brand age in brand awareness" establishes the relationship of brand age with brand recall and communication in brand recall. A high value of Cohen's kappa has helped to establish the qualitative inquiry of the current research. Practical implications -The authors have proposed that through the said five parameters, the pharmaceutical branding technique might be modified to optimise the marketing of branded generics in India. A strategic comprehensive model that has been constructed would give a direction for branding in the pharmaceutical industry. Originality/value -This research work has extended prior pharmaceutical branding research by conceptualising the branding strategy as a brand awareness tool, in a new area called branded generic drugs in India.