Pharmacists\u27 Perceptions And Prescribing Activities Under The Florida Self-Care Consulting Law: A Segmentation Analysis

This study identified two segments (Advocates and Opponents) of pharmacists based on their perceptions and prescribing activities regarding Florida\u27s 1985 Pharmacist Self-Care Consultant Law as revealed by their responses to a 36-item battery. Using a sample of 490 practicing pharmacists in Florida, with no evidence of nonresponse bias, profiles of each segment were constructed from the significant differences and similarities of each group. Findings revealed that the Advocates group contains a larger percentage of male pharmacists than the Opponents group (85% versus 72%). While a majority of the Opponents (70%) hold managerial positions, 11% more Advocates have managerial experience (81%). Members of the Advocates group also estimate more repeat customers (73% versus 67%), report more hours of retraining (235 hours versus 152 hours), and scored slightly higher (8.3 versus 7.4) on the composite knowledge index than Opponents. Marketing and public policy implications to improve the law\u27s effectiveness are discussed, and areas for future research are suggested. © 1995, Informa UK Ltd. All rights reserved