Choice of mandatory prescribed drugs in Portugal: a consumers’ perspective

Purpose This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of what influences consumers’ choice of mandatory prescribed drugs, by looking with more detail to the substitution of branded drugs by generics. Specifically, this research looks at three factors that can influence this decision, namely, participative decision-making, perceived risk and price consciousness, within the recent changes introduced in the Portuguese pharmaceutical market by new legislation. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional study was conducted, using a self-administered questionnaire, to survey a sample of consumers/patients that visited a doctor and were prescribed some kind of drug. Data were treated using factor analysis for dimensionality reduction purposes and regression analysis to test the main hypothesis. Findings The results show that participative decision-making has no impact on purchase decision of generics, while perceived risk and price consciousness show a predictive power regarding purchase intention of generic drugs. Research limitations/implications Although the results are only applicable to the Portuguese context, it draws important conclusions regarding consumers’ behaviour when choosing between branded and generic drugs. Practical implications Knowing what influences consumers’ choices of generic drugs contributes to tune marketing strategies and actions. For public institutions, this paper offers insights on how to adapt public policies. Originality/value This paper is valuable because it is the first to look at the Portuguese pharmaceutical market from a consumer behaviour perspective since new legislation was set up.