一對一藥師拜訪對藥師品牌偏好的影響之研究

Abstract

在大多數的已開發國家市場中，民眾的自我保健和自我藥療意識日益增強，而開架式非處方用藥Over-the-Counter（以下簡稱OTC）就成為了滿足消費者需求的關鍵角色。由於OTC藥品主要在藥店通路銷售，再加上藥劑師的建議是消費者購買決策的主要影響因素，在這些因素考量下，製藥廠商與藥劑師建立良好的長期合作關係是非常重要的。而其中，製藥廠商為了與藥劑師之間建立專業的關係，最常用的行銷手法之一，就是一對一的藥師拜訪（One-on-One Detailing）。 為了了解藥師對品牌的偏好與一對一藥師拜訪之間的相關性，本研究進行了一系列的假設檢定。依照台灣人口區域分配之比例，使用分層隨機抽樣方式，以驗證第一波與第二波的一對一藥師拜訪活動是否有顯著差異。從三個地理區域中隨機挑選出來的150位藥劑師，透過電話訪查的方式得到了兩波的問卷調查結果，並以此來做出分析。 研究結果證實，在經過第二波的一對一藥師拜訪之後，藥師對品牌知名度與對品牌的推薦與第一波拜訪後相比並沒有顯著的改善。考量到為了接觸藥劑師/藥劑師助理所投入的巨大資源和努力，額外的一對一藥師拜訪，可能不是一個對提昇品牌知名度與品牌推薦最有效的工具。然而，研究結果也證實，在第二波的一對一拜訪後，一對一藥師拜訪在對藥師傳達獨特的關鍵信息上是有效的。這提供了一個明確的方向，在新產品推出階段，一對一的藥師拜訪可以作為一種有效的溝通工具。總體而言，儘管這項研究沒有顯示出多做一波的一對一藥師拜訪會對品牌偏好產生顯著變化，但並不否定一對一藥師拜訪這項活動依然有效，因為它提供了一個機會，讓藥商能對產品創新的技術提供專業的介紹與產品相關的諮詢，並且能夠對藥劑師提出的問題提供解決方案和適當的服務。

With the rising awareness of self care and self medication in most of the developed markets and countries, Over-the-Counter (OTC) medicines play a critical role in fulfilling consumer needs. Since OTC medicines are primarily sold in pharmacy channels, pharmacist’s recommendation is the influential factor for consumer purchase decision. In light of these considerations, it is essential for pharmaceutical companies to establish good long term relationship with pharmacists. One-on-One Detailing is one of the most commonly used marketing tools for pharmaceutical companies to build professional relationship with pharmacists.

In order to understand the correlation between brand preference of pharmacist and One-on-One Detailing activity, a series of hypotheses have been developed and tested in this research. The stratified random sampling was used, to verify whether there is a significant difference between the first and the second round of detailing activities. Two waves of survey questionnaires were developed, and 150 pharmacists from three geographic subgroups were chosen and interviewed via telephone callings. In conclusion, the second round of the One-on-One Detailing activity shows no significant improvement in terms of brand awareness and brand recommendation. Considering the immense resources and efforts invested to contact pharmacists or their assistants, additional One-on-One Detailing activity may not be effective enough to fulfill the objective. However, the results prove Detailing is effective in delivering unique key message, especially after the second round of the Detailing activity. This provides a clear indication that the One-on-One Detailing activity could be adopted as an effective tool to communicate to drug stores during the new product launch phase. Overall, although this research does not reveal a significant change on brand preference of pharmacist after the second round of the One-on-One Detailing activity, the activity is still effective as it provides a discretional setting to offer professional consultation on innovative technology, and to offer solutions and answers for the questions raised by the pharmacists.