Pushed by the Pandemic, Are Online Pharmacies and Digital Marketing Becoming Integral Elements of the Self-medication Market? Evidence from a Cross-sectional Survey of OTC Drug Consumers

Amid the digital revolution, marketing and dispensing patterns of over-the-counter (OTC) drugs have been influenced by technological developments. This can be increasingly observed in many developing countries, including Malaysia. As a result, the number of online pharmacies has grown in recent years, and internet users are exposed more to digital marketing campaigns for OTC products, which aim to influence drug purchasing behaviours in the Malaysian self-medication industry. The purpose of this study is to determine whether digital marketing impacts OTC drug offline and online purchasing decisions among Malaysia's population and to identify the major influential factors that can impact these decisions.

A self-administered questionnaire was distributed through online and offline means. The final study sample consisted of 408 OTC drug consumers. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used. A p-value of <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. The data set was analysed using SPSS 24.0 for Windows.

The results of the study indicated that digital marketing has an impact on OTC consumer purchasing decisions in Malaysia (M= 4.14; SD= 0.812). In addition, social media is the type of digital marketing that has the most influence on their purchasing decisions, with a significant statistical difference (ρ<0.001). The results also revealed that several factors significantly and positively impact their purchase decisions.

The study provides further insights from the OTC consumers'/patients' perspective. Understanding the various factors that influence how OTC products are perceived will aid in designing effective marketing or health promotion campaigns that can have a greater impact within Malaysia's self-medication market, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic.