THE DIGITAL CONSUMER BEHAVIOR MOTIVES IN THE RUSSIAN PHARMACEUTICAL MARKET RETAIL SEGMENT

Abstract

Introduction. The research relevance. The distance trading development in the pharmacy B2C segment of the Russian pharmaceutical market demonstrates high growth rates. The Russian Government's approval in 2020 of medicines remote trading for medical use and drug delivery to citizens led to a significant expansion of companies' capabilities in this market, changes in consumer behavior. It created the need to adapt companies' communication policies to these realities. The online trade expansion, the intensification of independent search for information about medicines on the Internet and the search for pharmacies that provide more attractive conditions for the pharmacy products purchase dictate the need to study the motivation and behavioral characteristics of online buyers. The object of the study was the B2C segment of the pharmacy range of the Russian pharmaceutical market. The subject of the research is a methodological approach to the study of the digital consumer behavior motives.

Materials and methods. The primary data were obtained by online survey of pharmacy assortment consumers using a questionnaire completed in Google Forms. The sample is random, quota-based, the sample size is 405 respondents aged 25 to 65 years, Yekaterinburg. The survey used closed-ended questions, questions using a seven-point Likert scale and high-quality answers from respondents encoded using nominal scales. Statistical methods of analysis have been applied: frequency analysis, the method of conjugacy tables, single-factor remote analysis, factor analysis based on the principal component method. The statistical analysis of the obtained data was carried out using Excel and the Jeffreys's Amazing Statistics Program (JASP) open-source software package.

Results and conclusions. Taking into account the specifics of the market, the authors clarified the definition of the digital consumer in the retail segment of the Russian pharmaceutical market. A methodological approach to the study of the digital consumer behavior motives has been proposed, which includes six stages: a survey of consumers, hypotheses about the behavior motives, hypothesis testing using contingency tables, one-factor analysis of variance, consumers’ segmentation using factor analysis, systematization of the digital consumer behavior motives and the development of the promotion channels structure. The authors used this method for the pharmacy assortment of the Russian pharmaceutical market.

Discussion. The obtained research results can be used to plan the company's promotion strategy in the B2C pharmacy range market and develop the structure and budget allocation of promotion channels.