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Country-of-origin versus brand: consumers’ dilemma when choosing between generic and branded drugs in emerging countries

Fatma Smaoui (Department of Marketing, Institut Supérieur de Gestion, University of Tunis, Tunis, Tunisia)
Fatma Abdellah Kilani (Institut des Hautes Etudes Commerciales de Carthage, University of Carthage, Carthage, Tunisia)
Mourad Touzani (Department of Marketing, NEOMA Business School, Rouen, France)

Journal of Product & Brand Management

ISSN: 1061-0421

Article publication date: 18 April 2016

1684

Abstract

Purpose

Taking an emerging country perspective, this paper aims to investigate consumers’ preferences for over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, regarding three attributes: country-of-origin (COO), brand status (branded versus generic) and price. The second purpose is to test the effect of COO and brand status on consumers’ perceptions of quality, trust and purchasing intentions.

Design/methodology/approach

After a preliminary qualitative study, consumers answered a follow-up questionnaire to evaluate eight product combinations (COO/brand status/price) for three categories of OTC drugs. Conjoint analysis allowed assessing the importance of COO compared to brand status and price, while ANOVA was used to test the effect of COO and branding status on consumers’ responses.

Findings

Findings show that, in an emerging countries context, COO is less important than brand status in consumers’ preferences. COO and brand status have a greater effect on consumers’ perceptions of drug quality and trust than on purchasing intentions.

Research limitations/implications

The limited number of factors (brand status/COO/price) could have amplified their relative importance.

Practical implications

Pharmaceutical companies from industrialized countries, exporting generic drugs to emerging markets, can benefit from the favorably perceived COO of their drugs and thus help the acceptance of generic drugs in these markets.

Originality/value

The study has two major contributions. It aims to contribute to a better understanding of consumer behavior in the pharmaceutical field. It also transposes the framework on COO to the context of an emerging country: Tunisia.

Keywords

Citation

Smaoui, F., Abdellah Kilani, F. and Touzani, M. (2016), "Country-of-origin versus brand: consumers’ dilemma when choosing between generic and branded drugs in emerging countries", Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 25 No. 2, pp. 148-159. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-04-2014-0553

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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