Pharmaceutical Promotion Tools — Their Relative Importance

An investigation is described of the perceptions of general practitioners concerning the extent to which their decisions to prescribe scheduled pharmaceutical products are influenced by some of the promotion tools available to pharmaceutical marketers. Some practical implications and guidelines are offered by the results to pharmaceutical marketers, with reference to the relative effectiveness of various promotional tools and the appropriate emphasis that should be placed on them. The relationship between the effect of these prescription determinants and certain categorical variables is investigated. Some strategic implications for the marketing of pharmaceutical products are identified, as are areas for further research.