Pharmacist professionalism,helpfulness,and consumer behavior linkage

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to test the relationship between a pharmacist’s professionalism and helpfulness (as perceived by customers) as well as to determine the effect of these factors on customer loyalty. Consumers may tend to ask for pharmacists’ help in purchasing both prescription and over-the-counter drugs if they feel that pharmacists are willing to help. Also, customer relations with pharmacists and their loyalty to pharmacies may vary depending on customers’ age, gender, race, and income. To test these relationships, cross-sectional survey analysis was conducted, involving 332 randomly selected customers in the Midwest of the United States. As hypothesized, the results indicate that many customers consider the professional background of the pharmacist, including education and years of experience, when asking for advice on both over-the-counter and prescription drugs. Additionally, customers’ willingness to ask for help is positively related to pharmacists’ willingness to help customers. The results of structural equation modeling indicate that pharmacists’ helpfulness and professionalism have significant impact on customer loyalty. Age, gender, race, and income levels influence drug-purchasing behavior and loyalty to a pharmacy. The findings add to the literature by discovering customer feelings about a pharmacist’s helpfulness as related to professionalism. If the customer is satisfied with the assistance provided by the pharmacist, loyalty will naturally increase along sales, and pharmacy competitiveness strengthens.