The influence of price value on purchase intention among patients with chronic diseases in medical e-commerce during the COVID-19 pandemic in China

Abstract

BackgroundDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, medical e-commerce (MEC) has provided a way for patients with chronic diseases to purchase drugs online to maintain social distancing, decrease the risk of infection and community transmission, and relieve the burden on medical resources. Therefore, research which seeks to elucidate the drivers of purchase intention (PI) among patients with chronic diseases in MEC is vital. This study extended the theory of planned behavior (TPB) by integrating the price value (PV) variable into the original TPB framework and explored the effect of PV on patients' PI in MEC during the coronavirus pandemic.MethodsEmpirical data was gathered from 414 Chinese participants. Structural equation modeling was applied to explore the mechanism of chronic patients' PI in MEC. In addition, this study also estimated the moderating effect of gender, income, and region and the mediating role of attitude (ATT), subjective norm (SN), and perceived behavioral control (PBC) between PV and PI.ResultsPatients' PI in MEC is significantly affected by ATT, SN, and PBC. PV delivers significant influence on ATT, SN, PBC, and PI, with PV having the strongest effect on ATT. Gender, income, and region can significantly moderate the relationship between PV and ATT.ConclusionThese findings can contribute to design targeted interventions to increase the adoption of MEC for patients with chronic diseases, decrease infection rates, and alleviate the strain on medical resources in the COVID-19 era.

What influences consumers’ online medication purchase intentions and behavior? A scoping review

“…Pricing factors enhancing consumers’ purchase intentions toward drugs online included lower prices ( Cicero and Ellis, 2012 ; Sinclair et al, 2018 ; Ashames et al, 2019 ; Adjie et al, 2023 ), differences in the prices ( Bansal et al, 2022 ), and price value, which is the perceived benefits given the cost ( Han and Han, 2023 ).…”

“…Several studies examined the effects of consumers’ evaluations of the online medication purchase environment. Some purchase environment evaluations that enhanced consumers’ intentions to buy online included attitudes toward online pharmacies ( Hu et al, 2021 ; Han and Han, 2023 ), emotional response to online pharmacies ( Hu et al, 2021 ), attitude toward online pharmacy logistics and distribution ( Hu et al, 2021 ), perceived usefulness of online pharmacies ( Ma, 2021 ), perceived behavioral control ( Han and Han, 2023 ), trustworthiness of online pharmacies ( Ma, 2021 ; Sabbir et al, 2021 ), trust in the e-marketplace ( Adjie et al, 2023 ), trust in website technology ( Alsadoun et al, 2023 ), perceived trust in app-based medicine services ( Ahmed et al, 2023 ), perception of pharmacy website design ( Hu et al, 2021 ), perception of website system and service quality ( Adjie et al, 2023 ), perception of online pharmacies as a reliable source for purchases ( Moureaud et al, 2021 ), effort expectancy (i.e., online pharmacy is simple, clear and justifiable to use) ( Srivastava and Raina, 2020 ; Sabbir et al, 2021 ), facilitating conditions (i.e., organizational and technical infrastructures assist consumers to use online pharmacy) ( Sabbir et al, 2021 ), performance expectancy (i.e., usefulness of online pharmacies in achieving desired outcome) ( Srivastava and Raina, 2020 ; Sabbir et al, 2021 ), hedonic motivation (i.e., enjoy using online pharmacies) ( Srivastava and Raina, 2020 ), and satisfaction with the e-marketplace ( Adjie et al, 2023 ).…”

“…Consumers’ intention to purchase medication online was enhanced by several information sources, including online word-of-mouth ( Lee et al, 2017 ); social media word-of-mouth, such as sharing on Facebook and comments posted on Facebook ( Mekawie and Hany, 2019 ); drug information provided on the website ( Hu et al, 2021 ); information quality on e-pharmacy websites ( Adjie et al, 2023 ); recommendations from family, friends, advertisers, or cultural sources ( Hu et al, 2021 ); recommendations from others ( Moureaud et al, 2021 ); social influence, such as interactions with or persuasion by friends and families ( Srivastava and Raina, 2020 ; Sabbir et al, 2021 ); and subjective norms, which is the perceived social pressure or expectations regarding a behavior ( Adjie et al, 2023 ; Han and Han, 2023 ).…”

“…Perceived risk (financial risk, physical risk, source risk) Varghese Assin et al (2022) Web-based payment Almomani et al (2023) Lack of accountability Almomani et al (2023) Engaging in an illegal behavior Almomani et al (2023) Prior experience Prior experience of purchase good online Frontiers in Pharmacology frontiersin.org et al, 2021); information quality on e-pharmacy websites (Adjie et al, 2023); recommendations from family, friends, advertisers, or cultural sources (Hu et al, 2021); recommendations from others (Moureaud et al, 2021); social influence, such as interactions with or persuasion by friends and families (Srivastava and Raina, 2020;Sabbir et al, 2021); and subjective norms, which is the perceived social pressure or expectations regarding a behavior (Adjie et al, 2023;Han and Han, 2023). Some information source-related factors enhancing purchase behavior included word-of-mouth from friends (Almomani et al, 2023), social media marketing (Anis and Tan, 2023), influencers' endorsements (Almomani et al, 2023), information provided by suppliers (Cokro and Arfenda, 2023), reviews from other consumers (Almomani et al, 2023;Anis and Tan, 2023), and interactions with healthcare providers (Desai et al, 2015;Almomani et al, 2023).…”