Brand Loyalty And Its Influence On Prescription Behaviour By Medical Officers And Clinical Officers In Kiambu Level 5 And Ruiru Sub-County Hospitals.

ABSTRACT

In accommodating the healthcare need of patients, medical and clinical officers in any health centre must provide prescriptions that meet their demands. There has been an increasing debate on the motivational factors which describes how physicians prescribe drugs for their patients, more so with the increased anti-hypertensive rate in Kenya with specific focus in Kiambu County. While this could be as a result of brand loyalty developed by either the patients or physicians, little literature is available in the field of healthcare management to back-up the belief, more so in Kenya. To try and answer this phenomenon, the study aimed to investigate brand loyalty and its influence on the prescription behaviour of anti-hypertensive drugs by medical officers and clinical officers in Kiambu Level 5 and Ruiru Sub County Hospitals. The specific objective were to determine the influence of brand image, brand commitment and brand experience on prescription behaviour of anti-hypertensive drugs. Theory of brand equity and theory of planned behaviour contributed to the study. The study adopted a descriptive research design with a target population of 21 medical officers and 34 clinical officers in the two hospitals combined, totalling to 55 respondents. Census survey was carried out on the 55 respondents to make the sample size of the study. As such, the sample size of the study was 55 respondents. The study relied on primary data which were gathered using questionnaire as the primary data collection instrument. Pilot testing was done using three respondents from Kiambu level 5 hospital which is not part of the target population. Data was analysed using quantitative methods, descriptive statistics, inferential statistics as well as use of SPSS. To ensure that analysis was appropriate, diagnostic tests was performed such as linearity test and normality test. The study findings established that of the three variables, only brand experience and brand image had a positive relationship with prescription behaviour of anti-hypertensive drugs by medical and clinical officers whereas, brand commitment had a negative relationship. The study recommended that hospitals need to take into consideration the influence that brand loyalty could be having on the prescription behaviour of their behaviours especially due to rising uptake of anti-hypertensive drugs in the country, especially in Kiambu.