European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

THE CONSUMERS’ LEVEL OF AWARENESS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE ONLINE PHARMACY SERVICES IN THE PHILIPPINES

Adormeo, Shania Andrea D., Barrios, Apple Queen L., Guevarra, Venice Abbeygaile S., Lagos, Cyril Kenneth E., Mativo, Mary Cydill C., Sabadera, Jonas Remjel C. Urbina and Joline Ezra Blessilda Q.

ABSTRACT

Online pharmacy services are a relatively new concept and are gaining traction in the Philippines. Online pharmacies illustrate a conventional pharmacy's "virtual branch," reaching out to online consumers to sell and market medications through the internet. The study aims to determine consumers' awareness and perception towards online pharmacy services in the Philippines. The research follows a quantitative non-experimental design utilizing a descriptive approach and correlational analysis. An online survey questionnaire is created and is distributed using Google Forms. The respondents are limited to the residents of the National Capital Region, Philippines, based on convenient sampling. To compute for the respondents' profile and determine the consumers' awareness and perception towards online pharmacy services, percentage, and weighted mean is calculated. Subsequently, chi-square test is used to correlate the consumers' perception to the respondents' demographic profile and internet utilization as a factor in purchasing from online pharmacies. Results of the study show that consumers perceive that the parameters – convenience, fair pricing, accessibility, reliability, and security as influencing factors in patronizing online pharmacies. No significant correlation is found between the consumers' perception to the respondents' demographic profile and internet utilization as a factor in purchasing from online pharmacies.

Keywords: Online Pharmacy, Services, Awareness, Perception, Consumers.