PHYSICIANS’ INTERACTION WITH PHARMACEUTICAL SALES REPRESENTATIVES: ETHICAL GUIDELINES

Description

The main objective of this book is to elaborate on the influence of direct-to-physician promotion and moral judgment on physicians’ prescription behavior. There are very few studies that have examined to what extent physicians’ prescription behavior is influenced by pharmaceutical promotional activities and moral beliefs. This research integrates theories from consumer behavior and ethics to study physicians’ prescription behavior in response to pharmaceutical advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, public relations, direct marketing, and moral judgment. The aggressive promotional activities put the physicians in an ethical dilemma and triggered the need for moral reasoning for physicians even when regulatory bodies exist. Hence, this research also studied the role of moral judgment on physicians’ prescription behavior and to what extent it moderates the relationship between the behavior and the promotions. The outcome from this research has contributed to new practical insights.