Abstract

A variety of promotional strategies have been used to stimulate sales of pharmaceutical drugs. Traditionally, push techniques have been the predominant means used to encourage physicians to prescribe drugs and thus increase sales. Recently, the traditional push strategy has been supplemented by a pull strategy. Direct-to-consumer advertising is increasingly used to encourage consumers to request advertised drugs from their physicians. This research compares the attitudes of two of the most affected participants in the prescriptive sales processes; physicians and pharmaceutical sales representatives. The findings indicate differences between physicians and pharmaceutical sales representatives regarding the efficacy and ethical considerations of various promotional strategies.