Investigation and Research on Influential Factors and Behavioral Characteristics of Online Drug Purchase: Taking Ningbo as an Example / 中国药房

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To provide evidence and reference for online pharmacy business and government policy adjustment. METHODS: Taking Ningbo as an example, intercepting questionnaires survey was conducted in major drugstores and major commercial centers. The influential factors of online drug purchase, specific reasons of not purchasing drugs online, online drug purchase "5W1H" behavior characteristics and influential factors of purchase decision were investigated. The data processing was conducted by using EpiDate 3. 1 and SPSS 19. 0 software. RESULTS: A total of 700 questionnaires were issued, and 660 valid questionnaires were collected with effective recovery of 94. 29％. Educational degree of the respondents, internet frequency and online shopping frequency had significant impact on whether purchased drugs on the internet (P＜0. 05), while gender, age, place of residence and type of medical insurance had no significant impact on it (P＞0. 05). Among specific reasons for not purchasing drugs online, score decended by the order of worrying about the safety of purchasing drugs online, worrying about the logistics and after-sales service, can not get professional medical and pharmaceutical care. Among the characteristics of network drug purchase behavior, 50. 2％ of respondents purchased drugs online out of the cheapness; 41. 2％ buying goods that were not available locally; Tmall and Jingdong mall were the main way to buy, accounted for 78. 9％ and 44. 2％, respectively. Within the last 6 months, online purchasing less than 5 times accounted for 72. 4％, and the amount less than 300 yuan accounted for 57. 3％. Most respondents expected to pay by Alipay and medical insurance card, each accounted for 53. 8％. Among decision-making influential factors, score decended by the order of commodity factor, after-sales service and logistics, shop and business qualification, professional service; price factor scored the lowest. CONCLUSIONS: The higher educational degree, internet frequency and online shopping frequency, the more inclined to online drug purchase. Low trust, logistics and customer service difficult to guarantee and inability to get professional service are main reasons for not purchasing drugs online. The characteristics of online drug purchase manifest as low amount, low frequency and single way. Great attention is paid to the nature of drug properties, the business qualification, after-sale rights protection and logistics efficiency, when the consumer decides to buy. It is suggested to improve online pharmacy business and related policy adjustment by forming differential marketing model, strengthening consumer confidence, cultivating consumption habits, strengthening after-sales guarantee and logistics construction, choosing suitable sale platform and professional development, avoiding vicious price-cutting competition.