Brand Equity And Physician Prescribing Behavior: A Behavioral Economic Approach To Pharmaceutical Marketing Effectiveness

Abstract

The pharmaceutical industry invests substantially in brand building to influence physician prescribing patterns, yet the relationship between brand equity and prescribing behavior remains incompletely understood through behavioral economics lens. This study examines how pharmaceutical brand equity influences physician prescribing decisions using behavioral economic principles. A cross-sectional survey design was employed with 285 physicians across various specialties in India. Data were collected through structured questionnaires measuring brand equity dimensions (brand awareness, brand association, perceived quality, brand loyalty) and prescribing behavior. The hypothesis proposed that higher brand equity significantly predicts increased prescribing frequency. Results demonstrated strong positive correlations between brand equity components and prescribing behavior (r=0.68, p<0.001). Physicians with high brand equity perception prescribed promoted brands 42.3% more frequently than those with low brand equity perception. Behavioral economic factors including anchoring bias, social proof, and heuristic decision-making significantly mediated this relationship. Marketing activities including detailing visits and samples showed moderate effectiveness (β=0.34, p<0.05). The study concludes that pharmaceutical brand equity substantially influences prescribing through cognitive biases, suggesting that behavioral economics provides valuable framework for understanding physician decision-making beyond traditional rational choice models.