The Effect of Pharmaceutical Company's Corporate Brand Image on Physicians' Prescriptions

Purpose: As the government supports the pharmaceutical industry as a next-generation growth industry, there has been a change in the generic-oriented market. The government is trying to lower the price of generic medicines and change the market with rebates. If there is no difference in the marketing methods of pharmaceutical companies, corporate brand image can be an important attribute to consider when doctors prescribe generic drugs. Research design, data, and methodology: The brand image of pharmaceutical companies consists of communication with customers, social responsibility, ethical behavior, and the image of MR. Other factors than the corporate brand image have little effect on doctors’ intention to prescribe. The subjects of this study were limited to the generic drug market and clinic doctors with no restrictions on prescribing authority. Results: First, the customer and communication components of corporate brand image influenced prescribing intention. Second, social responsibility, a component of corporate brand image, influenced prescribing intention. Third, ethical behavior as a construct of corporate brand image influenced prescribing intention. Fourth, the effect of MR's image on prescription intention was confirmed. Conclusions: To differentiate from previous studies, this study focused on generic prescriptions in hospitals and confirmed that the corporate brand image of pharmaceutical companies had a positive effect on doctors’ prescription.