Factors affecting customers selection of community pharmacies: The mediating effect of branded pharmacies and the moderating effect of demographics

Abstract

This research aims to identify and evaluate different factors influencing the customer decision in selecting a community pharmacy in the city of Amman, and study the possible impact of branded pharmacy on the selection process. Five main factors were selected based on the literature review, including convenience, physical environment, sales promotions, qualified and experienced pharmacists and customer service and three main hypotheses and twelve sub-hypotheses were developed. A descriptive analytical methodology, quantitative approach, utilizing survey strategy utilizing questionnaire were used. The population of this research consists of customers who decide to choose a community pharmacy which is estimated at 934.5 thousand households. To collect the primary data, a self-administered questionnaire was prepared based on previous studies; 1070 questionnaires were distributed in different community pharmacies in Amman using convenience sample (pharmacy intercept), 801 filtered and screened questionnaires were sent for statistical analyses. The results reveal that customer service factor had the highest effect on customers' selection of pharmacies, followed by qualified and experienced pharmacists and convenience, respectively. Sales promotions and physical environment have the least impacts on customers' decision. The results also show that there is a partial statistically significant mediation effect of branded pharmacy on the direct relationship between the selected factors and customers' pharmacy selection. The demographic variables have no statistically significant moderating effects on the direct relationship between the selected factors and pharmacy selection. Discussion, managerial implications, and future research recommendations are provided.

Ascertaining service quality and medical practitioners' sensitivity towards surgical instruments using SERVQUAL

“…Table 4 presented the results of the Harman's Test for the deduction of common method bias. Hence, the result of the mediation analysis revealed that reliability, trust and loyalty are the major mediators or deciding variables regarding the medical practitioners' sensitivity towards their selection of surgical instruments (Ghattas and Al-Abdallah, 2020). Thus, trust, reliability and loyalty had a higher impact on the medical practitioners' sensitivity while selecting the particular surgical instrument brand (Pandey et al , 2019).…”

Pharmacy service factors and pharmacy performance: the role of patient satisfaction in community pharmacies

“…Mahmoud and Mahmoud (2016) specified pharmacy location, technical quality (including courtesy and respect shown by the pharmacy staff) and pharmacist competency in explaining drug use instructions as the most influential satisfaction factors. Ghattas and Al-Abdallah (2020) stated that connivance, qualified and experienced pharmacists and customer service are decisive factors in selecting community pharmacies.…”

“…The current competitive marketing environment obliges community pharmacies to develop business improvements to maintain their patronage and enhance their performance (Abdallah et al , 2017; Ghattas and Al-Abdallah, 2020). Therefore, community pharmacies hoping to prosper must recognize the importance of patient trust and loyalty (Castaldo et al , 2015).…”

“…Taking into account their extended opening hours and the availability of expert advice without the need for an appointment, community pharmacies are generally more accessible than other health-care settings (Khdour and Hallak, 2012; Alkhalidi and Abdallah, 2018). The number of community pharmacies available to serve patients in Jordan is high and still increasing, leading to increasing competition among pharmacies to attract and retain customers (Ghattas and Al-Abdallah, 2020). In addition, pharmacists must take responsibility for the quality of the services they provide.…”

Retail atmospherics in times of disruption: a PLS modeling approach of the role of emotions in a pharmacy environment

“…At the same time, anecdotal industry data reveals that only 16% of customers entering a pharmacy see themselves as "patients" (Stochasis, 2021) while recently pharmaciesas retail outletsare receiving growing academic attention (e.g. Dung, 2019;Ghattas and Al-Abdallah, 2020;Glaveli et al, 2020;Grew et al, 2020;Habash and Al-Dmour, 2020). The importance thus of adopting a customer perspective rather than a patient one is highlighted by both academics and practitioners (Schork, 2015;Deloitte, 2020).…”