The effects of relationship marketing practices on the quality of the relationship between the physician and the pharmaceutical sales representative (PSR) is a topic of interest for pharmaceutical marketers and academics. The main focus of this research study is to understand the impact of relationship building activities by pharmaceutical firms in their effort to influence the decision making process of physicians. Specifically, this study is concerned with the relationships between relationship marketing concepts, such as relationship benefits, relationship investment, PSR expertise, and relational dependence, and relationship quality. A survey was administered to a physician sample, comprised of both PCPs and specialists. The results confirm that relationship benefits, relationship investment, PSR expertise, and relational dependence are all important factors when building high quality relationships between PSRs and physicians. The data was also analyzed with the addition of a moderator (being a specialist) and support was found in several relationships.
ZipkinD.SteinmanM. (2005) Interactions between pharmaceutical representatives and doctors in training: A thematic review. Journal of General Internal Medicine20: 777–786.
2.
MizikN.JacobsonR. (2004) Are physicians ‘Easy Marks’? Quantifying the effects of detailing and sampling on new prescriptions. Management Science50(12): 1704–1715.
3.
PalmatierR.DantR.GrewalD. (2007) A Comparative longitudinal analysis of theoretical perspectives of interorganizational relationship performance. Journal of Marketing71: 172–194.
4.
De WulfK.Oderkerken-SchröderG.IacobucciD. (2001) Investments in consumer relationships: A cross-country and cross-industry exploration. Journal of Marketing65: 33–50.
5.
ReynoldsK.BeattyS. (1999) Customer benefits and company consequences of customer-salesperson relationships in retailing. Journal of Retailing75(1): 11–32.
6.
CalfeeJ. (2002) The role of marketing in pharmaceutical research and development. Pharmacoeconomics20(3): 77–85.
7.
BentleyJ. (2002) Pharmaceutical marketing's contributions to quality of life. Journal of Pharmaceutical Marketing & Management14(3/4): 109–127.
8.
ParvatiyarA.ShethN. (2000) The domain and conceptual foundations of relationship marketing. In: JohnstonW.RuizD.M. (eds.) Handbook of Relationship Marketing. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
9.
BhattacharyaC.SenS. (2003) Consumer-company identification: A framework for understanding consumers' relationships with companies. Journal of Marketing67: 76–88.
10.
RosenbergL.CzepiélJ. (1984) A marketing approach to customer retention. Journal of Consumer Marketing1(2): 45–51.
11.
CreyerE.HrsistodoulakisI. (1998) Marketing pharmaceutical products to physicians. Marketing Health Services Summer: 35–38.
12.
JapS.ManolisC.WeitzB. (1999) Relationship quality and buyer-seller interactions in channels of distribution. Journal of Business Research46: 303–313.
13.
PalmatierR.DantR.GrewalD.EvansK. (2006) Factors influencing the effectiveness of relationship marketing: A meta-analysis. Journal of Marketing70: 136–153.
14.
KumarN.ScheerL.SteenkampJ. (1995) The effects of supplier fairness on vulnerable resellers. Journal of Marketing Research32: 54–65.
15.
CrosbyL.EvansK.CowlesD. (1990) Relationship quality in services selling: An interpersonal influence perspective. Journal of Marketing52: 21–34.
16.
DwyerF.SchurrP.OhS. (1987) Developing buyer-seller relationships. Journal of Marketing51: 11–27.
17.
ColgateM.LangB. (2005) Positive and negative consequences of a relationship manager strategy: New Zealand banks and their small business decision makers. Journal of Business Research58: 195–204.
18.
Hennig-ThurauT.GwinnerK.GremlerD. (2002) Understanding relationship marketing outcomes. Journal of Service Research4(3): 230–247.
19.
EnnewC.BinksM. (1999) Impact of participative service relationships on quality, satisfaction and retention: An exploratory study. Journal of Business Research46: 121–132.
20.
PalmatierR.JarvisC.BechkoffJ.KardesF. (2009) The role of customer gratitude in relationship marketing. Journal of Marketing73(5): 1–18.
21.
SmithB. (1998) Buyer-seller relationships: Bonds, relationship management, and sex-type. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences15(1): 76–92.
22.
WrayB.PalmerA.BejouD. (1994) Using neural network analysis to evaluate buyer-seller relationships. European Journal of Marketing28(10): 32–48.
23.
WeitzB. (1978) The relationship between salesperson performance and understanding of customer decision making. Journal of Marketing Research15: 501–516.
24.
StewartT.ChampionD. (2006) Leading change from the top line. Harvard Business Review84(July-August): 90–97.
25.
WoodJ.BolesJ.JohnstonW.BellengerD. (2008) Buyers' trust of the salesperson: An item-level meta-analysis. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales ManagementXXVIII(3): 263–283.
26.
LiuA.LeachM. (2001) Developing loyal decision makers with a value-adding sales force: Examining customer satisfaction and the perceived credibility of consultative salespeople. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales ManagementXXI(2): 147–156.
27.
BendapudiN.BerryL. (1997) Decision makers' motivations for maintaining relationships with service providers. Journal of Retailing73(1): 15–37.
28.
DholakiaR.SternthalB. (1977) Highly credible sources: Persuasive facilitators or persuasive liabilities. Journal of Consumer Research3: 223–232.
29.
ScharitzerD.KollaritsH. (2000) Satisfied customers: Profitable customer relationships: Pharmaceutical marketing: How Pharmaceutical Sales Representatives can achieve economic success through relationship management with settled general practitioners — An empirical Study. Total Quality Management11(7): S955–S965.
30.
FrazierG. (1983) On the measurement of interfirm power in channels of distribution. Journal of Marketing ResearchXX: 158–166.
31.
HibbardJ.KumarN.SternL. (2001) Examining the impact of destructive acts in marketing channels relationships. Journal of Marketing Research38: 25–61.
32.
KumarN.ScheerL.SteenkampJ. (1995) The effects of perceived interdependence on dealer attitudes. Journal of Marketing ResearchXXXII: 348–356.
33.
RajagopalA. (2009) Buyer-supplier relationship and operational dynamics. Journal of the Operational Research Society60(3): 313–320.
34.
Van BruggenG.KackerM.NieuwlaatC. (2005) The impact of channel function performance on buyer-seller relationships in marketing channels. International Journal of Research in Marketing22: 141–158.
35.
EvansK.BeltraminiR. (1986) Physician acquisition of prescription drug information. Journal of Health Care Marketing8(4): 15–25.
36.
AlkhateebF.KhanfarN.LoudonD. (2010) Physicians ‘adoption of pharmaceutical e-detailing: Application of Rogers’ innovation-diffusion model. Services Marketing Quarterly31: 116–132.
GarbarinoE.JohnsonM. (1999) The different roles of satisfaction, trust, and commitment in customer relationships. Journal of Marketing63: 70–87.
39.
DoneyP.CannonJ. (1997) An examination of the nature of trust in buyer-seller relationships. Journal of Marketing61: 35–51.
40.
GanesanS. (1994) Determinants of long-term orientation in buyer-seller relationships. Journal of Marketing58: 1–19.
41.
HomburgC.PflesserC. (2000) A multiple-layer model of market-oriented organizational culture: Measurement issues and performance outcomes. Journal of Marketing ResearchXXXVII: 449–462.
42.
HomburgC.KrohmerH.WorkmanJ. (1999) Strategic consensus and performance: The role of strategy type and market-related dynamism. Strategic Management Journal20: 339–357.
43.
ByrneB. (2001) Structural Equation Modeling with AMOS: Basic Concepts, Applications, and Programming. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
44.
FornellC.LarckerC. (1981) Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research18: 39–50.
45.
HairJ.BlackW.BabinB.AndersonR.TathanR. (2006) Multivariate Data Analysis. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
