RSS
Healthcare: Study: For slight affections one out of two Romanians directly asks pharmacists for necessary medicines
One out of two Romanians directly ask pharmacists for the needed medicines in case of slight affections, without asking for recommendations. Only one out of 18 Romanians see a physician to obtain a prescription, according to a study made by the marketing research company 4Srvice Group Romania.
Physicians and pharmacists are those who are listened to by Romanians when it comes to choosing a certain brand of medicines, being mentioned by 83.6% of respondents. Thus, less than 15% of Romanians count only on previous personal experiences, while1.6% of them make appeal to relatives, friends or people they know for a brand they should purchase. Romanians do not like too many variants either, especially when they are not clearly told about differences among similar products – about 17% of respondents were bothered by that aspect.
The notoriety of drug stores is closely linked to the number of units and their distribution in Romania.
“Asked to identify the name of pharmacies they know, 80% of Romanians mentioned Catena, 6% Dona, 56% Sensiblu, 16% Help Net and 15% Punkt. The biggest drug store networks are also present in the Romanians' preferences, in an order similar to their size. More exactly, the largest network, Catena, is preferred by 20.8% of Romanians,” the press release shows.
The top of the most appreciated 5 drug store brands is completed by A&D Pharma group (Sensiblu 11.9% and Punkt 15%), Dona pharmacies (9.8%) and Maxi Farma (4%). The top of preferences is completed by Tei drug stores, appreciated by 35.4% of respondents.
Three quarters of Romanians have never bought medicines online
The study made by 4Service Group also approached the online purchase of medicines, which is less used in Romania. About 3 quarters of Romanians say they have never bought medicines online, the reasons mentioned being: from the simplicity of the purchase from nearby drug stores, the pharmacists' advice to the lack of trust or merely the fact they have never thought about trying this option.
“Another reason why Romanians prefer to buy offline is found in the loyalty programs used by drug stores. Not less than 86.8% of Romanians say they have use at least once loyalty cards issued by drug stores, while 48% of them use the cards every time. Only one out of ten Romanians uses such a loyalty card,” the study shows.
The study was made by marketing research company 4Service Group at national level between March and May 2019, on a sample of 1890 persons from the urban area, aged between 18 and 72.