| Literature DB >> 28943984 |
Sujin Nitadpakorn1, Karen B Farris2, Tanattha Kittisopee3.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The concept of customer engagement and devotion has been applied in various service businesses to keep the customers with business However, a limited number of studies were performed to examine the context of customer engagement and devotion in pharmacy business which focus on the impact of customer perceptions about pharmacists, perceived quality of pharmacy structure, medication price strategy on pharmacy engagement and pharmacy customer devotion in a pharmacy providing pharmaceutical care to the customers.Entities:
Keywords: Commerce; Community Pharmacy Services; Consumer Behavior; Models; Patient Satisfaction; Pharmacies; Pharmacists; Professional-Patient Relations; Surveys and Questionnaires; Thailand; Theoretical
Year: 2017 PMID: 28943984 PMCID: PMC5597812 DOI: 10.18549/PharmPract.2017.03.999
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Pharm Pract (Granada) ISSN: 1885-642X
Figure 1Conceptual model and hypotheses.
Dotted lines refer to non-significant path and Solid lines refer to significant path.
H1: Customer engagement has a direct effect with customer devotion; H2: Perceived quality of pharmacy structure at community pharmacy providing professional pharmacy services has a direct effect with pharmacy customer devotion; H3: Perceived quality of pharmacy structure at community pharmacy providing professional pharmacy services has an indirect effect with pharmacy customer devotion via pharmacy engagement; H4: Customer perceptions about pharmacist at community pharmacy providing professional pharmacy services directly affect pharmacy engagement and pharmacy customer devotion; H5: Customer perceptions about pharmacist at community pharmacy providing professional pharmacy service has an indirect effect with pharmacy customer devotion via pharmacy engagement; H6: Medication price strategy has a direct effect with pharmacy customer devotion; H7: Medication price strategy has an indirect effect with pharmacy customer devotion via pharmacy engagement
Itemized objective congruence (IOC)
| Weighted Score | Agree (1) | Not sure (0) | Disagree (-1) | IOC Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perceived quality of pharmacy structure (PQPS): Are questions relevant to the concept of perceived quality of pharmacy structure? (3’s) | |||||
| The community pharmacy I regularly visit…. | |||||
| look clean, has enough light and look professional | 3 | 1.00 | |||
| the pharmacist dresses professionally | 3 | 1.00 | |||
| has a separate counseling area | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.00[ | |
| Medication Price Strategy (PS): Are questions relevant to the concept of marketing Mix? (8’s) | |||||
| The community pharmacy I regularly visit… | |||||
| gives a comparatively lower price of medicine at this pharmacy which attracts me to the pharmacy | 2 | 1 | 0.67 | ||
| gives me a good discount | 2 | 1 | 0.33[ | ||
| Customer Perceptions about pharmacist (PAP): Are questions relevant to the concept of perceptions about pharmacist? (5’s) | |||||
| The pharmacist of the community pharmacy I regularly visit…. | |||||
| provides the customer a pharmaceutical care service (consultation of disease and medication) with accurate knowledge and dependable service | 3 | 1.00 | |||
| provides the customer a prompt pharmaceutical care service (consultation of disease and medication) | 3 | 1.00 | |||
| provides the customer a pharmaceutical care service (consultation of disease and medication) with willingness | 3 | 1.00 | |||
| is knowledgeable and courteous | 3 | 1.00 | |||
| the pharmacist has ability to inspire trust and confidence giving me a focus on my health | 3 | 1.00 | |||
| Pharmacy Engagement (PE): Are questions relevant to the concept of pharmacy customer engagement? | |||||
| I feel like I would like to participate in sharing or exchanging ideas about the pharmacy | 3 | 1.00 | |||
| I feel like a personal compliment when someone one praises the pharmacy I regularly visits | 2 | 1 | 0.67 | ||
| I feel appreciated every time when coming to the pharmacy I regularly visits | 1 | 2 | 0.33[ | ||
| I feel passionate about goods and services every time when coming to the pharmacy I regularly visits | 3 | 1.00 | |||
| I feel like to know more about products and services at the pharmacy I regularly visits | 2 | 1 | 0.67 | ||
| I feel happy when receiving the services at the pharmacy I regularly visit | 3 | 1.00 | |||
| I feel like to get involved and interacted with others about the pharmacy I regularly visits | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.00[ | |
| I feel like I does not want to visit other pharmacies when receiving the services at the pharmacy I regularly visits | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.00[ | |
| I feel like being enthusiastic to inform others about the pharmacy I regularly visits | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.00[ | |
| Pharmacy Customer Devotion (PCD): Are questions relevant to the concept of pharmacy customer devotion? (5’s) | |||||
| I come back to purchase the medication at the community pharmacy I regularly visit | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.00[ | |
| I say positive things about the pharmacy to other people | 3 | 1.00 | |||
| I encourage friends and relatives to receive pharmaceutical care service with the pharmacy I regularly visit | 3 | 1.00 | |||
| I give the pharmacy other constructive advices | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.00 | |
| I give the pharmacy advice to improve the pharmacy or services of this pharmacy | 2 | 1 | 0.67 | ||
No change as it reflects key concept of perceived quality of pharmacy structure
No change as it reflects key concept of marketing mix
Changed to ’really excited to receive professional pharmacy service (e.g. consultation of disease or medication) at the pharmacy I regularly visits’
No change as it reflects key concept of customer engagement
No change as it reflects key concept of customer devotion
Sample characteristics
| Items | N= 253 (%) |
|---|---|
| Gender | |
| Male | 60 (23.7%) |
| Female | 193 (76.3%) |
| Age | |
| < 20 years | 17 (6.7%) |
| 20 - 40 years | 164 (64.8%) |
| 41 - 60 years | 55 (21.8%) |
| > 61 years | 17 (6.7%) |
| Education Level | |
| Lower than bachelor degree | 66 (26.1%) |
| Bachelor Degree | 126 (49.8%) |
| Higher than bachelor degree | 26 (10.3%) |
| Others | 35 (13.8%) |
| Reasons to visit the pharmacy regularly | |
| Purchase general medication | 188 (74.3) |
| Get consultation from pharmacist | 68 (26.9%) |
| Refill medication for chronic treatment | 37 (14.6%) |
| Others | 21 (8.3%) |
| Location | |
| Urban | 242 (95.7%) |
| Suburban | 10 (4%) |
| No answer | 1 (0.3%) |
Mean, standard deviation (SD) of construct, correlation and covariance among the constructs (n=253)
| Constructs | Mean (SD) | Correlation (Covariance) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCD | PE | PQPS | PS | PAP | ||
| Pharmacy Customer Devotion (PCD) | 3.88 (0.75) | 1 (0.26) | ||||
| Pharmacy Engagement (PE) | 3.91 (0.63) | 0.79 | 1 (0.54) | |||
| Perceived Quality of Pharmacy Structure (PQPS) | 4.30 (0.55) | 0.18 | 0.26 | 1 (0.03) | ||
| Price Strategy (PS) | 3.86 (0.72) | 0.42 | 0.38 | 0.21 | 1 (0.25) | |
| Perceptions about Pharmacist (PAP) | 4.37 (0.54) | 0.51 | 0.52 | 0.31 | 0.40 | 1 (0.02) |
Five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), number of items used to measure for PCD = 5’s, PE = 9’s, PQPS = 3’s, PS = 3’s, and PAP = 5’s
Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)
Measurement and reliability of construct
| Construct/Observed Variables | Mean Score (SD) | CFA Factor Loadings |
|---|---|---|
| Perceived Quality Pharmacy Structure (Cronbach’s alpha=0.65) | ||
| look clean, has enough light and look professional | 4.35 (0.61) | 0.55 |
| the pharmacist dresses professionally | 4.26 (0.74) | 0.69 |
| has a separate counseling area | 3.86 (0.97) | 0.72 |
| Customer Perception about Pharmacist (Cronbach’s alpha=0.98) | ||
| provides the customer a pharmaceutical care service (consultation of disease and medication) with accurate knowledge and dependable service | 4.19 (0.71) | 0.86 |
| provides the customer a prompt pharmaceutical care service (consultation of disease and medication) | 4.14 (0.72) | 0.85 |
| provides the customer a pharmaceutical care service (consultation of disease and medication) with willingness | 4.21 (0.72) | 0.90 |
| is knowledgeable and courteous | 4.28 (0.67) | 0.73 |
| the pharmacist has ability to inspire trust and confidence giving me a focus on my health | 4.24 (0.72) | 0.72 |
| Medication Price Strategy (Cronbach’s alpha=0.67) | ||
| give a reasonable price of medicine | 4.13 (0.76) | 0.65 |
| has a comparatively lower price of medicine at this pharmacy when comparing to others | 3.76 (0.91) | 0.95 |
| give me a good discount | 3.30 (1.01) | 0.51 |
| Pharmacy Engagement (Cronbach’s alpha=0.86) | ||
| like I would like to participate in sharing or exchanging ideas about the pharmacy | 3.59 (0.96) | 0.76 |
| like a personal compliment when someone one praises the pharmacy he or she regularly visits | 3.82 (0.84) | 0.74 |
| passionate about goods and services every time when coming to the pharmacy he or she regularly visits | 3.87 (0.74) | 0.60 |
| really excited to receive professional pharmacy service (e.g. consultation of disease or medication) at the pharmacy he or she regularly visits | 3.98 (0.81) | 0.60 |
| like to know more about products and services at the pharmacy he or she regularly visits | 3.84 (0.79 | 0.62 |
| happy when receiving the services at the pharmacy | 4.09 (0.69 | 0.67 |
| like I do not want to visit other pharmacies when receiving the services at the pharmacy he or she regularly visits | 3.66 (0.93 | 0.79 |
| like to get involved and interacted with others about the pharmacy he or she regularly visits | 3.55 (0.89 | 0.75 |
| like being enthusiastic to inform others about the pharmacy he or she regularly visits | 3.57 (0.97) | 0.70 |
| Pharmacy Customer Devotion (Cronbach’s alpha=0.86) | ||
| come back to purchase the medication at the community pharmacy I regularly visit | 4.05 (0.80) | 0.60 |
| say positive things about the pharmacy to other people | 3.77 (0.92) | 0.91 |
| encourage friends and relatives to receive pharmaceutical care service with the pharmacy I regularly visit | 3.75 (0.95) | 0.92 |
| give the pharmacy advice to improve the pharmacy or services of this pharmacy | 3.32 (1.04) | 0.58 |
| give the pharmacy other constructive advices | 3.34 (1.02) | 0.64 |
Questionnaire using five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree)
Figure 2Model predicting pharmacy engagement and pharmacy customer devotion in community pharmacy.
p-value=0.06, adjusted chi-square (CMIN/DF)=1.16, Goodness of Fit Index (GFI)=0.93, Comparatively Fit Index (CFI)=0.99, and Root Mean Square Error Approximation (RMSEA)=0.03
PAP: Customer perceptions about pharmacist; PQPS: perceived quality pharmacy structure; PS; price strategy; PE: pharmacy engagement;
PCD: pharmacy customer devotion.