Interplay between Attitude and Purchase Intention: An Empirical Survey on Over-the-Counter (OTC) Drugs Consumer Behaviour

Over-the-Counter drugs (OTC) segment is rapidly growing within the pharmaceutical sector in India. In 2009, the Indian OTC market exhibited a growth of US$1.8 billion however as per the estimates by PwC India is likely to witness a growth of US$11 billion-a CAGR of 18% by 2020. As OTCs are self medicated it is essential to evaluate the stimulus that triggers a particular behaviour¹. In recent past, India has also witnessed an increase in OTC drugs purchase of health supplements². An empirical survey was conducted based on a validated questionnaire to assess the consumer behavioural intention towards OTC purchase. The survey involved assessment of key variables like “perceived behavioural control, attitude and subjective norm as per the theory of planned behaviour (TPb)”³. As per the survey the TPb model exhibited a variation of 39.4% in the purchase intention, wherein attitude appeared as the most important driver of intention closely followed by perceived behavioural control. Findings indicate that the TPb based model appropriately explains the interplay between the key variables influencing purchase intention of OTC drug products. Attitude was attributed to having the strongest influence (β = 0.401, p = 0.000) on intention among the variables studied. Perceived behavioural control was identified as the next most important variable.