STUDY OF MARKETING COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES FOR VACCINE AND ITS EFFECT ON RECOMMENDATIONS BY PEDIATRICIAN

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1 Volume 3, Issue 7 (July, 2014) Online ISSN Published by: Abhinav Publication Abhinav International Monthly Refereed Journal of Research in STUDY OF MARKETING COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES FOR VACCINE AND ITS EFFECT ON RECOMMENDATIONS BY PEDIATRICIAN Dr. Prashant Ashturkar 1 Associate Professor & Guide, Department of Commerce, K.R.M. Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Nanded, India Pankaj Nandurkar 2 Research Scholar, Faculty of Management Studies, School of Commerce and Management Science, Nanded, India pankajnandurkar@yahoo.com ABSTRACT Marketing needs effective communication flow between the company and the consumer. Marketing Communication is the process by which companies directly or indirectly inform, persuade, remind and built relationship with costumers. Marketing communications are messages and related media used to communicate with costumer. The Indian Pharmaceutical Industry is one of the fastest growing sectors in India offering wide range of drugs for treatment of various diseases. Vaccine, a drug selected for this study is widely known as drug for pretreatment or prophylaxis use. Rabies Vaccine is the only vaccine recommended for post exposure treatment after dog or other animal bite. Pediatricians generally suggest vaccines to the beneficiaries and spread importance of immunization. Researcher reveals that Pharmaceutical companies convey their messages through sales force comprising mainly of Medical representatives and hierarchy of sales managers. Personal Selling is the majorly utilized element of Marketing Communication in Pharmaceutical Industry since sales force directly negotiates about their brands with practitioners. Besides Personal selling Sales Promotion, Advertising, Public Relation activities are also applied on regular basis for effective marketing communication. In this study, Researcher has evaluated relationship between marketing communication strategies of organization and pediatrician s recommendation of vaccine to the customers. Quality of the product, convenient package, price and terms of sales, convenient availability all serve as tools of marketing communication. Keywords: Pharmaceutical Industry; Marketing Communication; Vaccine; Pediatrician; Sales Force INTRODUCTION Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind. - Rudyard Kipling, It is noteworthy that communication is one of the most important aspects of any strategy. Communication is the process in which sender sends message to receiver through a medium and this process is completed when desired response or feedback from receiver reaches to sender. Marketing needs effective communication flow between the company and the consumer (Ramaswamy & Namakumari, 2013). Marketing Communication is the process by which companies directly or indirectly inform, persuade, remind and built relationship with costumers. Marketing communications are messages and related media used to communicate with costumer. The primary goal of marketing communication is to reach a defined audience to affect its behavior by informing, persuading, and Available online on 22

2 reminding. A secondary goal of marketing communication is building and reinforcing relationships with customers, prospects, retailers, and other important stakeholders. The Indian Pharmaceutical Industry is one of the fastest growing sectors in India offering wide range of drugs for treatment of various diseases. Vaccine, a drug selected for this study is widely known as drug for pretreatment or prophylaxis use. Rabies Vaccine is the only vaccine recommended for post exposure treatment after dog or other animal bite. Pediatricians generally suggest vaccines to the beneficiaries and spread importance of immunization. In Pharmaceutical industry, Pharmaceutical companies convey their messages through sales force comprising mainly of Medical representatives and hierarchy of sales managers. Personal Selling is the majorly utilized element of Marketing Communication in Pharmaceutical Industry since sales force directly negotiates about their brands with practitioners. Besides Personal selling Sales Promotion, Advertising, Public Relation activities are also applied on regular basis for effective marketing communication. In this study, Researcher has evaluated relationship between marketing communication strategies of organization and pediatrician s recommendation of vaccine to the customers. Whether marketing communication Practices of organization also increase importance of vaccination among Parents of Vaccine beneficiaries is also evaluated. Quality of the product, convenient package, price and terms of sales, convenient availability all serves as tools of marketing communication. REVIEW OF LITERATURE A vaccine is a biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease. A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism, and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe or its toxins. The agent stimulates the body's immune system to recognize the agent as foreign, destroy it, and "recognize" it, so that the immune system can more easily recognize and destroy any of these microorganisms that it later encounters. (Cavusgil, 2008) In this study, researcher examines the impact of specific marketing communication activities (advertising and sales force) on physician. Study is focused on Gastrointestinal drugs (GID) as one therapeutic category. Researcher examines the financial impact (specifically, return on investment, or ROI) of pharmaceutical promotional activities. The results of this study provide guidance to managers as to how to optimize the promotional mix over a product's life cycle. It also investigates the effect of various promotional efforts (direct-to consumer advertising, journal advertising, and sales force) on sales. (Jain & Saxena, May 2011) Researcher Carried out an empirical analysis to recognize the relative significance of promotional tools for prescription drugs. Promotional-mix strategies have been classified related to the two medicine classes, that is, Lifestyle and General, by using discriminant analysis. It has been found that the pharmaceutical companies use diverse promotional strategies for different medicine classes. Also, the role and importance of each promotional tool differ according to the medicine class. The study helps in building a better understanding amongst the marketing managers of pharmaceutical companies for developing their overall promotional-mix strategy. (Oswal & Deshmukh, May 2012) Researcher studies current marketing practices in the pharmaceutical sector, examining Medical Representative, Drug Stores, Doctors and Consumer-oriented promotions. It presents examples of marketing practices and their impact on consumer and doctor behavior. It identifies negative impacts of these practices. This study is carried out in and around Pune region for existing anti diabetic drugs. It is evident from review of literature that research could be carried out to study effectiveness of marketing communication strategies adopted by pharmaceutical vaccine marketers. OBJECTIVES 1. To understand existing marketing communication strategies of vaccine marketers. VOL. 3, ISSUE 7 (July 2014) 23

3 2. To study the effectiveness of marketing communication strategies of vaccine marketers 3. To understand importance level of different elements of Marketing Communication. 4. To suggest suitable measures to current marketing communication strategies. RESEARCH QUESTION The study titled Marketing Communication Strategies of Pharmaceutical companies: A study of select drugs is an Endeavor which was done primarily to answer the following questions Whether Marketing Communication Strategies affects Paediatricians recommendation of Vaccine to the beneficiaries Comparatively is there any difference or superiority between different elements of marketing communication in effectiveness or them produce cumulative effect in marketing communication. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Research in common manner of speaking refers to a search for knowledge. Once can also define research as a scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a specific topic. In fact, research is an art of scientific investigation. (Kothari C.R., 2010) Research methodology adopted is descriptive in nature which is used to obtain information concerning the current status of the phenomena to describe "what exists" with respect to variables or conditions in a situation. Sampling Technique: Probability: Simple Random sampling Sampling Unit: Pediatrician Sampling Size: 30 Sample Area: Pune Tools for collecting the primary data are as follows: For the present research, The Primary data was collected through Personal Interviews, and Structured Questionnaire Tools for Data processing and Data analysis: In the context of marketing communication strategies Microsoft Excel was preferred for data analysis and graphical presentation of data. LIMITATION OF STUDY The survey was conducted in Pune region only. More cities could have been included. DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION 1. Respondents Classification based upon Sex Profile of Doctor No. of Doctor Respondents Percentage Male Female 4 13 Total All Pediatrician are either MBBS DCH or MD (ped.) qualified doctors. 3. Majority of them Purchase and recommend vaccines to beneficiaries from their hospital or clinic 4. Every Pediatrician strongly agrees that Cold Chain maintenance is necessary for vaccines. VOL. 3, ISSUE 7 (July 2014) 24

4 5. Sales Force Personal Selling Activity Particulars No. of Doctors Respondents Percentage Strongly agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree Total Interpretation: 50% of the Doctors feel that Sales force regular visit, clarity in communication of sales force, over all behavior and professional relationship development by them with doctors were influencing on recommendation of vaccine. 6. Parents enquiry after exposure to Advertising Materials in Clinic Particulars No. of Doctor Respondents Percentage Strongly agree 0 0 Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree Total Interpretation: Advertising materials generally printed material like Posters, Leaflets, Brochure, Stickers, and Height and Weight charts were significant only when enough space is provided by pediatricians in clinic or hospital therefore 37% were in disagreement of usefulness of advertising VOL. 3, ISSUE 7 (July 2014) 25

5 material. Still print advertising is significant towards Parents enquiry after exposure to Advertising Materials in Clinic/Hospital. 7. Effect of Public Relation activities Particulars No. of Doctor Respondents Percentage Strongly agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree Total Interpretation: Continuous Medical education (CME) Program arranged by companies and sponsorship to the doctors are ethical concern for 37% of doctors and were reluctant to get affected by Public Relation (PR) activities. 27% of doctors were significantly affected by PR activities. 8. Influence of Sales Promotion offers Particulars No. of Doctor Respondents Percentage Strongly agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree Total VOL. 3, ISSUE 7 (July 2014) 26

6 Interpretation: In Doctors opinion Sales promotion offers like price discount, certain schemes on bulk purchase reduces price and thus increases affordability of the vaccine for patients so almost 50% agree that they get affected by offers. Training to paramedical staff is important aspect which organization should get noticed because paramedical staff are the one who interacts first with beneficiaries parent and spread importance of vaccination. FINDINGS Majority of Paediatrician purchase and recommend vaccines to beneficiaries from their hospital or clinic. Every Paediatrician strongly agrees that Cold Chain maintenance is necessary for vaccines. Half of the respondent Doctors feel that Sales force regular visit, clarity in communication of sales force, over all behavior and professional relationship development by them with them were influencing factors on recommendation of vaccine. Advertising materials generally printed material like Posters, Leaflets, Brochure, Stickers, and Height and Weight charts were significant only when enough space is provided by paediatricians in clinic or hospital therefore 37% were in disagreement of usefulness of advertising material. Still print advertising is significant towards Parents enquiry after exposure to Advertising Materials in Clinic/Hospital Continuous Medical education (CME) Program arranged by companies and sponsorship to the doctors are ethical concern for 37% of doctors and were reluctant to get affected by Public Relation (PR) activities. 27% of doctors were significantly affected by PR activities. In Doctors opinion Sales promotion offers like price discount, certain schemes on bulk purchase reduces price and thus increases affordability of the vaccine for patients so almost 50% agree that they get affected by offers. Training to paramedical staff is important aspect which organization should get noticed because paramedical staff are the one who interacts first with beneficiaries parent and spread importance of vaccination. CONCLUSION The Pharmaceutical industry in India shown a steady and uphold growth over last two decades. Indian Pharmaceutical Industry has seen major mergers, acquisitions, takeover for sustaining in the market. This study contributes to understand the effectiveness of marketing communication strategies in Pharmaceutical Industry (vaccine range). This study emphasize on the metamorphosis in marketing communication strategy. The changes in the marketing communication strategies are seen as a purpose of coping up with the changing marketing environment. Importance of Personal Selling and Sales Promotion offers could not be neglected in this changing environment of communication. Society, Pharmaceutical organizations of vaccine range can be benefited with research findings as this research attempted to find out the importance of vaccination and its benefits. REFERENCES 1. Cavusgil, A. (2008). Three Essays on Marketing strategy elements and the brand life cycle in the pharmaceutical Industry. Michigan s: Michigan state university. 2. C.R. Kothari. (2010). Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques. Second Revised edition: New Delhi: New Age International Publishers. 3. Jain, S., & Saxena, K. (May 2011). Lifestyle and General Medicines: A study of Promotional Mix Strategies in India. Journal of Medical Marketing, VOL. 3, ISSUE 7 (July 2014) 27

7 4. Oswal, R., & Deshmukh, A. (May 2012). A Study of Marketing Strategies Part1: for Selected Pharmaceutical Medicine adopted by Pharmaceutical Companies in and around Pune region. International Journal of Marketing and Technology, Ramaswamy, & Namakumari. (2013). Marketing Management: Global Perspective Indian Context. New Delhi: McGraw Hill Education (India) Private Limited. VOL. 3, ISSUE 7 (July 2014) 28