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Pharmaceutical promotion and GP prescription behaviour

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  • Frank Windmeijer
  • Eric de Laat
  • Rudy Douven
  • Esther Mot

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to empirically analyse the responses by general practitioners to promotional activities for ethical drugs by pharmaceutical companies. Promotion can be beneficial as a means of providing information, but it can also be harmful in the sense that it lowers price sensitivity of doctors and it merely is a means of maintaining market share, even when cheaper, therapeutically equivalent drugs are available. A model is estimated that includes interactions of promotion expenditures and prices and that explicitly exploits the panel structure of the data, allowing for drug specific effects and dynamic adjustments, or habit persistence. The data used are aggregate monthly GP prescriptions per drug together with monthly outlays on drug promotion for the period 1994–1999 for 11 therapeutic markets, covering more than half of the total prescription drug market in the Netherlands. Identification of price effects is aided by the introduction of the Pharmaceutical Prices Act, which established that Dutch drugs prices became a weighted average of the prices in surrounding countries after June 1996. We conclude that GP drug price sensitivity is small, but adversely affected by promotion. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Suggested Citation

  • Frank Windmeijer & Eric de Laat & Rudy Douven & Esther Mot, 2006. "Pharmaceutical promotion and GP prescription behaviour," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(1), pages 5-18, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:15:y:2006:i:1:p:5-18
    DOI: 10.1002/hec.1007
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Sabine Vogler & Valérie Paris & Alessandra Ferrario & Veronika J. Wirtz & Kees Joncheere & Peter Schneider & Hanne Bak Pedersen & Guillaume Dedet & Zaheer-Ud-Din Babar, 2017. "How Can Pricing and Reimbursement Policies Improve Affordable Access to Medicines? Lessons Learned from European Countries," Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 307-321, June.
    3. Begoña Garcia Mariñoso & Izabela Jelovac & Pau Olivella, 2011. "External referencing and pharmaceutical price negotiation," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(6), pages 737-756, June.
    4. Gorecki, Paul K. & Nolan, Anne & Brick, Aoife & Lyons, Seán, 2012. "Pharmaceuticals Delivery in Ireland. Getting a Bigger Bang for the Buck," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number RS24.
    5. Pieter Dylst & Arnold Vulto & Brian Godman & Steven Simoens, 2013. "Generic Medicines: Solutions for a Sustainable Drug Market?," Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Springer, vol. 11(5), pages 437-443, October.
    6. Sabine Vogler, 2019. "Fair prices for medicines? Exploring competent authorities’ and public payers’ preferences on pharmaceutical policies," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 46(3), pages 443-469, August.
    7. Filippini, M. & Heimsch, F. & Masiero, G., 2014. "Antibiotic consumption and the role of dispensing physicians," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 242-251.
    8. Gregory G. Lubiani & Albert A. Okunade & Weiwei Chen, 2018. "Income Elasticity Decomposition Models and Determinants of U.S. Pharmaceutical Expenditures," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 46(4), pages 389-403, December.
    9. Kremer, Sara T.M. & Bijmolt, Tammo H.A. & Leeflang, Peter S.H. & Wieringa, Jaap E., 2008. "Generalizations on the effectiveness of pharmaceutical promotional expenditures," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 234-246.
    10. Neilson, William S., 2009. "Price sensitive prescribers," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 104(1), pages 20-22, July.
    11. Hui Zhang & Gregory Zaric, 2015. "Using price–volume agreements to manage pharmaceutical leakage and off-label promotion," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 16(7), pages 747-761, September.
    12. Peter Leeflang & Jaap Wieringa, 2010. "Modeling the effects of pharmaceutical marketing," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 121-133, June.
    13. Terris-Prestholt, Fern & Windmeijer, Frank, 2016. "How to sell a condom? The impact of demand creation tools on male and female condom sales in resource limited settings," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 107-120.
    14. Muhammad Alshurideh & Barween Al Kurdi & Ala Abdullah Abumari & Said A. Salloum, 2018. "Pharmaceutical Promotion Tools Effect on Physician's Adoption of Medicine Prescribing: Evidence from Jordan," Modern Applied Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 12(11), pages 210-210, November.
    15. David B. Ridley, 2015. "Payments, Promotion, And The Purple Pill," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(1), pages 86-103, January.
    16. Denzil G. Fiebig & Rosalie Viney & Stephanie Knox & Marion Haas & Deborah J. Street & Arne R. Hole & Edith Weisberg & Deborah Bateson, 2017. "Consideration Sets and Their Role in Modelling Doctor Recommendations About Contraceptives," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(1), pages 54-73, January.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • D42 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Monopoly
    • D61 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Allocative Efficiency; Cost-Benefit Analysis

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