| dc.description.abstract | The generic prescription drug market is continuously growing as the patents of many originator
drugs are expiring . With a potential global market value of US$1 ,2 trillion, many companies
compete for market share. The retail pharmacy is the outlet where the products of these
companies are sold to the public. However, public access to prescription drugs is restricted by
law. As the custodians of medicine, pharmacists have to ensure that medicine is used safely
and correctly. By means of generic substitution, the pharmacist can offer patients quality
medicine at a cost effective price. Due to the many generic pharmaceutical companies, the
pharmacist has plenty of options when it comes to generically substituting medicine. This study
attempted to identify the factors that influence the pharmacist to offer a patient the generic drug
of one company instead of another.
A sample of fifty pharmacists from selected independent retail pharmacies, in the Pretoria
region, successfully completed a questionnaire that tested nine factors that were identified as
influencing the decisions of pharmacists during the dispensing process. A four-point Likert scale
was used to measure the in influences. The influence of medical representatives was rated as
very high (3 ,00 standard deviation (SD) 0,78) and also the biggest influence of the nine tested
variables. The influences of medical aids (2 ,88 SD 0,87), company reputation (2 ,86 SD 0,87),
differentiation between chronic diseases (2,82 SD 1,07) and the pharmacist's personal
preference (2,76 SD 0,97) were rated as high influences. Drug price was rated as a slightly high
influence (2,62 SD 0,93). Lesser influences were that of drug availability (2,41 SD 1,00) and the
influence of the prescribing doctor (2 ,34 SD 0,4). The lowest influence according to our sample
is that of the patient (2 ,23 SD 0,94 ). A factor analysis revealed six constructs that tested reliable
for the purpose of this study (Cronbach's alpha coefficient of higher than 0,5): Cost of generics
(0,791), perceived quality of generic drugs (0,722), product knowledge (0,674), influences of the
pharmaceutical company (0 ,642), effect of brand loyalty (0,534) and spur-of-the-momentinfluences
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