Factors That Influence Over-The-Counter (OTC) Medicines' Purchasing Decision

Abstract

The pharmaceutical industry in Egypt is rapidly growing and there are a lot of companies that compete in this market. The Egyptian Pharmaceutical market is considered among the largest markets in the Middle East & North African (MENA) Region and it had reached sales of more than 41 billion Egyptian Pounds in 2018 while, forecasted to reach more than 56 billion Egyptian Pounds in 2022 with compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8%. The pharmaceutical market can be classified into Over-The-Counter (OTC) medicines and Prescription-Only Medicines (POM). OTC medicines' market is very competitive in Egypt and self-medication concept became prevalent among the Egyptian consumers and they became aware of different aspects in the medical and pharmaceutical sector due to the incremental usage of social media and internet sources so, it became a must for pharmaceutical companies with an OTC medicines portfolio to study well the consumers' behavior when purchasing this type of medicines so as to better formulate the marketing strategies that support their competitive place in the market.

This research explores the factors that can influence Egyptian consumers when purchasing OTC medicines from pharmacies and from the exploratory study, it was found that the main influences on consumers' purchasing decision of OTC medicines were the previous experience together with the recommendations from experts like pharmacists and family and friends' recommendations as well.