Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Purchasing attitudes of consumers towards domestic and foreign products sold in community pharmacies: A case study of the Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria

Elijah Mohammed¹, Adaobi C Ezike² , Ibrahim B Ahmed¹, Mojisola A Aizobu¹, Osekafore Molade¹, Fisayo M Aderinola¹

¹Pharmacy Council of Nigeria, Headquarters, Plot 7/9 Idu Industrial Area, Abuja, Nigeria; ²Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, 410001, Enugu State, Nigeria.

For correspondence:- Adaobi Ezike Email: adaobi.ezike@unn.edu.ng

Accepted: 22 June 2023 Published: 31 July 2023

Citation: Mohammed E, Ezike AC, Ahmed IB, Aizobu MA, Molade O, Aderinola FM. Purchasing attitudes of consumers towards domestic and foreign products sold in community pharmacies: A case study of the Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria. Trop J Pharm Res 2023; 22(7):1511-1518 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v22i7.22

© 2023 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate consumer/client purchasing patterns regarding domestically produced and imported goods in community pharmacies in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nigeria.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey of clients of community pharmacies in the FCT was used. Data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire containing both open-ended and closed-ended questions.

Results: The results showed that 67.6 % of the respondents preferred to purchase foreign products stocked in a community pharmacy, 30.7 % domestic ones, while about 2 – 7 % were neutral. Most consumers preferred to purchase locally manufactured herbal products and beverages, although a majority preferred to buy foreign medicines, other medical products, cosmetics, and toiletries. In decreasing order of consideration, cost, availability, prescription, and experience with the product determined their preference for domestic products, while quality, prescription, and experience with the product dictated their choice of foreign products.

Conclusion: Nigerian consumers prefer foreign drugs, cosmetics, and toiletries because they are aware of their superior quality. However, they prefer locally produced herbal products and beverages.

Keywords: Domestic medical products, Foreign medicines, Purchase choices