11

Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE

Introduction

A pharmacy is not just about selling drugs-it is a people business, a customer business,
and the centre of this business is excellent customer service. It is vital to acknowledge that
satisfying a pharmacy customer today is vastly different from satisfying customers a decade ago.

Gone are days where healthcare professionals dictate the treatment course of customers.
In today’s standard, customer involvement is seen as equally important as having the right
pharmacological intervention.

One has to keep in mind that the Philippine society is a melting pot of people from
different religious and cultural background, with possibly polarised opinion about health and
sickness. It is a real challenge to accommodate one’s practice to so many different types of
customers. However, customer service should be approached as a philosophy, a founding
principle, where the pharmacy staffs can fall back to when they face challenging situation.

Great customer service comes from having an excellent standard of care. In addition to
adhering to the medical standard of care, such as following recommendation in the guidelines or
evidence-based medicine, pharmacy staffs should understand what the standard of care expected
from them. In fact, all customers expect the highest standard of care and this bottom line cannot
be compromised.

One of the most important members of the healthcare community is the Pharmacy
Assistants. Pharmacy assistants aid the pharmacists in administrative and customer service roles.
They work under the supervision of a pharmacist.

Pharmacy assistants are often the first people that the customers will interact within the
community pharmacy. Their job responsibilities are wide ranging such as purchasing
medications, merchandising, taking inventory control, record keeping, accepting payment for
prescriptions, price stocking, stocking shelves, marketing items for sale, preparing and
reconciling third party insurance claims and records. And it is also their job to advice customers
 2

correctly about their health needs and act as brand ambassadors for the business. They need the
knowledge and confidence to talk to customers and promote the pharmacy as a hub for healthy
living advice and care. This is where the fine line of separating the action of caring for customers
versus turning a profit from the venture has to be drawn.

To be an effective pharmacy assistant, they need to have an array of abilities and good
personality traits to enhance job performance. Practicing good pharmacy assistant qualities will
help them gain the respect of the employer as well as endear them to customers that will increase
the career satisfaction.

In the light of forgoing information, we the researchers were interested to conduct a study
to determine the perception of customers on the attitude of the pharmacy assistants. This study
will benefit many pharmacies as well as the customers. The results aid to understand the
importance of the attitude of pharmacy assistants and also to gain knowledge on pharmacy
customers in Ozamiz City.

As community pharmacies become more integrated into healthcare and the roles of
pharmacy assistants expand, we have chosen to explore the field further through research.

Theoretical Framework

Attitudes are usually defined as a disposition or tendency to respond positively or

negatively towards a certain thing (idea, object, person, and situation). It encompasses, or is
closely related to our opinions and beliefs and is based upon our experiences. Since attitudes
often relate in some way to interaction with others, it represent an important link between
cognitive and social psychology. Attitude change is especially relevant to management and sales
training.

Hovland, Janis, and Kelly (1953) provided one of the first major theories of attitude
change, developed in the framework of Hull’s learning theory, and oriented towards the effects
of persuasive communication. According to Hovland et al theory, changes in opinions can result
in attitude change depending upon the presence or absence of rewards. The learning of new
attitudes is no different in nature than any other verbal or motor skills, except that opinions relate
to single of proposition whereas other skills involve a series of propositions. The acceptance of a
 3

new opinion (and hence attitude formation) is dependent upon the incentives that are offered in
the communication.

Festinger’s theory of cognitive dissonance is one of the best known and most researched
frameworks pertaining to attitude change. According to this theory, attitude change is caused by
conflict among beliefs. A number of factors determine the strength of dissonance and hence how
much effort is required to change attitudes. By manipulating these factors, attitude change can be
facilitated or inhibited.

This study was anchored on Hull’s Learning Theory and Festinger’s Theory of Cognitive
Dissonance.

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to determine the perception of customers on the attitude of the
Pharmacy Assistants. Specifically it seeks to answer the following questions:

1. What is the demographic profile of the respondents in terms of:

1.1 Age
1.2 Gender
1.3 Marital Status
2. What are the expectations of customers on the attitude of the pharmacy assistants?
3. Is there a significant relationship between the perception of customers, the attitude
of pharmacy assistants in terms of good customer service and demographic profile
of the respondents?

Hypothesis:

Ho: there is no significant relationship between the perception of customers, the

attitude of pharmacy assistants in terms of good customer service and demographic
profile of the respondents.
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Independent Variable Dependent variable

 Attitude of Pharmacy  Customer

Assistants satisfaction
 Good customer  Customer Loyalty
service
 Excellent standard
of care
 Good attitude and
empathy
 Quality of
healthcare
 Attention to details

Figure 1. Schematic Diagram of the Study

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Significance of the Study

The study will be beneficial to the following:

Pharmacy Assistants will have a broader outlook on how to serve the customers
efficiently and achieve high satisfaction.

Community Pharmacies can benefit in this study to develop efficient marketing

strategies in order to attract client and develop customer loyalty by providing a high-quality
essential health service for customers.

Patients will also benefit because it is all about patient centred delivery of quality
healthcare services.

Future Researchers will be guided and helped to improve their knowledge about the
perception of customers on the attitude of the pharmacy assistants.

This study also highlights the importance of being a Pharmacy Assistants, her knowledge
and skills on drug medication and dispensing; its importance is protecting and improving the
public health.

Scope and Delimitation of the Study

The study only covers seventy five (75) respondents from the customers of Mercury Drug
and Rose Pharmacy in Ozamiz City, both male and female and they are classified according to
age bracket and marital status. The researchers also chose the customers because they are
interested to research and study their perception towards the attitude of pharmacy assistants in
which community pharmacy they do their purchases. The hypothesis only focuses on the
difference between the perception of customers, the attitude of pharmacy assistants in terms of
good customer service and demographic profile of the respondents.
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Definition of Terms

The following words are being defined operationally as:

Customers - refers to a customer from the age 18-35, 36-50, 51-63, 64 and older.

Perception - refers to the way of the customer thinks about the attitude of the pharmacy
assistant.

Attitude – refers to the way of Pharmacy Assistants interact to the customers within the
community pharmacy.

Pharmacy Assistants – are often the first people that the customers will interact within a
community pharmacy. They dispensed the medicine that being purchased by a customer under
the supervision of a pharmacist.

Service – refers to the way of pharmacy assistants in providing what is needed by a customer.

Satisfaction – refers to the act of pharmacy assistants in providing what is needed by a customer
to give contentment.

Pharmacy – a drug outlet where medicines or drugs are dispensed and compounded.

Loyalty- refers to the strong support of customers towards the pharmacy due to service
satisfaction.
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Chapter 2

Review of Related Literature and Studies

This chapter present the related literature and studies after the thorough and in depth
research done by the researchers. This will also present the topic of interest and the critical
analysis of the relationship among different works to fully understand the research to be done.

Related Literature

The increasing involvement of pharmacy assistants in public health will require

changes in the behaviour of both pharmacy assistants and the general public. A great deal of
research has shown that attitudes and beliefs are important determinants of behaviour. This
review aims to examine the perception of customers on the attitudes of the pharmacy assistants.

Pharmacy assistants and customers both have specific and significant roles and
responsibilities in the pharmacy assistant-customer professional relationship (Worley et
al.,2007). Customer’s acceptance to provision of health care by each professional group is
affected by either the understanding of language used for communication, or the cultural
perception toward health and greatly dependent on their cultural background. It is probable that
prejudice on the pharmacy assistant’s role may arise from the public’s expectation, and will
influence the decision whether they seek advice, trust the pharmacy assistant, use pharmaceutical
services as desired (Tang and Sporrong, 2008).

Community pharmacy assistants are the health professionals most accessible to the
public. They supply medicine in accordance with a prescription, or when legally permitted, sell
them without a prescription (Eades et al., 2011). In addition to ensuring an accurate supply of
appropriate products, their professional activities also cover counselling of customer at the time
of dispensing of prescription and non-prescribe drugs, drug information to health professional,
customers and the general public, and participation in health-promotion programs (Cristina,
Salvi, 2012).
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Personal Factors

Personal factors are characteristics that are specific to a person and may not relate to
other people within the same group. These characteristics may include how a person makes
decisions, their unique habits and interests, and opinions. When considering personal factors,
decision are also influenced by gender, background and other personal issues.

Related Studies

Various studies have been conducted worldwide assessing public or customer’s

perception and satisfaction of the roles and responsibilities of pharmacy assistants. Result varied
depending on the studies with some demonstrating a good level of perception and satisfaction
while others indicating a lot of areas for improvement. The society expects the pharmacy
assistant to play definite role in positive customer’s outcome by taking pro-active role in various
segments (Worley et al., 2007).

An important factor that will help in advancement of the pharmacy services in any
country would be understand the public or customers’ needs, expectations and satisfaction. This
will assist the pharmacy assistants, organization and regulatory bodies in modifying the extent,
range and quality of services provided depending on the customer’s need and views (Al-Arifi et
al., 2012). This will open up areas for improvement in patient/customer and pharmacy assistant
relationship. There are limited published studies conducted in Oman in these aspects. It is
expected that such a study would be useful addition to the existing data worldwide. Accordingly,
this study was conducted with the objective to assess the perception and satisfaction of general
public on the roles and responsibilities, and services provided by pharmacy assistants (McMillan
S, 2015). The majority 56% of studies identified for review inclusion examined a pharmacy
service that was defined as a standard practice. Only six of these studies were completed in the
United States, while the remainder were completed in countries with some type of national
health care, such as Australia, the United Kingdom, and Canada (Tan, C et al., 2012). As a
trusted and accessible health care professional, the community pharmacy assistant is often the
first point of contact of customers, particularly for over-the-counter (OTC) products, and
customers are generally satisfied with the pharmacy assistant’s interaction. Customers also rely
 9

on pharmacy assistants for medicine information when they cannot get all information they need
from their physician, which allows the pharmacy assistants with the supervision of the
pharmacists to have an impact on adherence (McDonough RP 2003).
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Chapter 3

Research Methodology

Research Design

This study employed the descriptive-survey method of research, use the factors
influencing the customer’s satisfaction and loyalty as the dependent variable. Descriptive-survey
method of research is a study designed to depict the specific fact-finding data. It is used to gather
information about a specific situation for the purpose of describing the nature of the situation and
interpreting the gathered data. Aside from gathering and tabulating the gathered information, it
also includes proper analysis, interpretation, comparisons, and identification of trends and
relationships (IJTBM 2012). As an aid to the researchers, the researchers made a questionnaire
checklist in gathering the needed data.

Research Setting

The researchers conducted this study in any pharmacy establishments within the city of
Ozamiz in the province of Misamis Occidental, Region X. Ozamiz City is nestled at the entrance
of the rich Panguil Bay in Northwestern Mindanao with an estimated land area of 16, 407
hectares. The city is subdivided into fifty-one (51) barangays wherein there are 23 barangays
classified as urban and 28 barangays classified as rural. The researchers visited two (2)
pharmacies: Rose Pharmacy located in JP Rizal Avenue, Ozamiz City, Misamis Occidental;
Mercury Drug Pharmacy located in Washington Street, Ozamiz City, Misamis Occidental;

Research Respondents

The researchers had randomly chosen seventy five (75) respondents. They were
customers in any pharmacy establishments in Ozamiz City. Using convenience random sampling
technique the researchers select a group of subjects (a sample) for study from a larger group (a
population). Each individual was chosen entirely by convenience and each member of the
population has an equal chance of being included in the sample. Every possible sample of a
given size has the same chance of selection. These participants comprised of female and male
adults aged 18 to 64 years of age and above.
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Data Gathering Procedure

The questionnaires were distributed to the respondents who were at community

pharmacies. The researchers distributed it personally to the respondents who were buying
medicines from the pharmacy. While they were waiting for their medicines to be dispensed, we
humbly requested for our questionnaires to be filled up. The researchers informed the
respondents that confidentiality will be ensured and no one would know who answered the
questionnaire. Name profile is optional. They may or may not write their names. The researchers
informed all the respondents that answering their questionnaire is at their own will and no one is
forcing them. The respondents agreed the researchers’ policy and answered the said
questionnaire.

Research Instrument

The researcher-made questionnaire was used for data gathering. In this survey type, five
choices were provided for every factor. The choices represent the degree of rating each
respondent had on the given factor. The survey was selected questionnaire type as this enabled
the respondents to answer the survey easily. Questionnaires were divided into main sections; the
profile and questionnaire proper. The profile contains socio-demographic characteristics of the
respondents, such as name, age, gender and marital status. The respondents need to answer the
questionnaire based on the perception of customers on the attitude of the pharmacy assistants in
Community Pharmacy in terms of how the pharmacy assistants treat the customers. The
indicators were rated as Strongly Agree, Somewhat Agree, Neutral, Somewhat Disagree and
Strongly Disagree.

Statistical Treatment

The following state was utilized in the analysis and interpretation of data:

Frequency- Frequency was used to determine the distributions of the frequency of the subjects
in each category.

Frequency Formula: where:

f=1/T=N/t f= frequency, the cycles in a unit of

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time

T= period, the time required for one cycle

N= a number of cycles

t= an amount of time

Percentage – percentage was used to determine the effectively rate of the known subjects.

Percentage Formula: where:

%=f/n X 100 %= Percent

f = Frequency

N= Numbers of cases

Average- it is also called arithmetic mean. It is the sum of a list numbers divided by the number
in the list.

Average Formula: where:

x = ∑x/N x = Mean

∑x = Sum of all scores

N = Number of cases

To test the significant relationship, chi-square was used with the hereunder formula:

(fo - fe)2

X2 =
Σ

fe

Where:
X2 = chi-square
fo = observed frequency
fe = expected frequency
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Σ = summation
The degree of Freedom = (c-1) (r-1)

Where:

c = number of columns

r = number of rows

df = degree of freedom

Independent Sample Test – compares the means of two independent in order to determine.
Whether there is statistical evidence that the associated Population means are significantly
different.
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Chapter 4

PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

Table 1 presents the gender profiles of the respondents in terms of gender.

There are 36 or (48 %) male respondents, while the female respondents are 39 or (52 %).
This means that the respondents are dominated by female.

Table 1 Gender Profiles of the Respondents

GENDER FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

sMale 36 48 %
Female 39 52 %
TOTAL 75 100 %

Table 2 presents the distribution of respondents as to age profile. As reflected in table 2,

18-35 years of age obtained a frequency of 27 or 36 %, 36-50 years of age obtained a frequency

of 23 or 30.67 %, while 51-64 years of age obtained a frequency of 16 or 21.33 %, and 64 years

of age and older obtained a frequency of 9 or 12 %.

It can be inferred from the findings, the respondents were generally young in terms of

age. This means that most of the respondents that had been involved are belong to the 18-35

years of age.
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Table 2 Age Profiles of the Respondents

AGE FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

18-35 27 36 %

36-50 23 30.67 %

51-64 16 21.33 %

64 and older 9 12 %

TOTAL 75 100 %

Table 3 represents the distribution of the respondents in terms of marital status. As

indicated in table 3, Single obtained a frequency of 18 or 24 %, Married obtained a frequency of

30 or 40 %, Separated obtained a frequency of 8 or 10.67 %, Divorced obtained a frequency of

10 or 13.33 %, Widowed obtained a frequency of 6 or 8 %, and Living with partner obtained a

frequency of 3 or 4%.

Based from the findings, the majority of respondents belong to Married, which implied

that most of married people always go to pharmacy to buy a medicine for the family safety.

Table 3 Marital Status Profiles of the Respondents

MARITAL STATUS FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

Single 18 24 %

Married 30 40 %

Separated 8 10.67 %

Divorced 10 13.33 %

Widowed 6 8%

Living with partner 3 4%

TOTAL 75 100 %
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Table 4 displays the perception of costumer on the attitude of the pharmacy assistants.
The questionnaire given out to random respondents had 5 choices which could be answered by
checking the preceding boxes which are indicated with 5 for Strongly Agree, 4 for Somewhat
Agree, 3 for Neutral, 2 for Somewhat Disagree, and 1 for Strongly Disagree. Based on the table
4, the average mean of the respondents in their perception on the attitude of the pharmacy
assistants is 3.96 which interpreted as very good. Based on the indicators, the pharmacy
assistants are all very good towards the respondents.

Table 4 presents the perceptions of customers on the attitude of the pharmacy assistants

Perception of Customers on the Attitude

of the Pharmacy Assistants Weighted Mean Interpretation
A Knowledge
1. The Pharmacy Assistant is
well-trained. 3.75 Very Good

2. The Pharmacy Assistant

responds to my inquiries in a 3.82 Very Good
timely manner.
3. The Pharmacy Assistant gives
the information or service that 4.00 Very Good
I needed.

4. The Pharmacy Assistant

provides clear and 4.00 Very Good
understandable information.
B. Role Fidelity 3.87 Very Good
1. The Pharmacy Assistant
adheres to professional 3.60 Very Good
standards of conduct.
2. The Pharmacy Assistant is 3.82 Very Good
friendly and polite.
3. The Pharmacy Assistant is 3.80 Very Good
helpful.
4. The Pharmacy assistant
cooperates with the 3.36 Very Good
pharmacist.
C. Care
1. The Pharmacy Assistant shows
the same treatment and 3.28 Very Good
dedication to all.
2. The Pharmacy Assistant
respects my right to choose the
brand of medicine. 3.40 Very Good
3. The Pharmacy Assistant
safeguards my right of
confidentiality. 3.67 Very Good
4. The Pharmacy Assistant
effectively communicates to 3.21 Very Good
me by providing adequate time
of interaction.
TOTAL 3.96 Very Good
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Parameters Interpretation
1.00 1.75 Poor
1.76 2.50 Fair
2.51 3.20 Good
3.21 4.00 Very Good

Table 5 presents the relationship between perception of costumer and demographic

profile of the respondents.

Gender profile and Perception of Costumer have a chi-square value of 118.3 and a p-value of
0.177. Thus, it fails to reject the null hypothesis. Therefore, there is no significant relationship
between gender profile and perception of costumer.

Age profile and Perception of Costumer have a chi-square value of 177.3 and a p-value of 0.813.
Thus, it fails to reject the null hypothesis. Therefore, there is no significant relationship between
age profile and perception of costumer towards the attitude of pharmacy assistant.

Marital Status profile and Perception of Costumer have a chi-square value of 224.3 and a p-value
of 0.501. Thus, it also fails to reject the null hypothesis. Therefore, there is no significant
relationship between marital profile and perception of costumer towards the attitude of pharmacy
assistant.

Table 5 Significant Relationship between Perception of Costumer and Demographic Profile

of the Respondents

Paired Variables P– 0.05 Level of

Decision
Chi-square Test X2 value Significance
Profile

Gender 118.3 0.177 Not Significant Fail to reject Ho

Perception of
Age Costumer 177.3 0.813 Not Significant Fail to reject Ho

Marital Status 224.3 0.501 Not Significant Fail to reject Ho

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Chapter 5

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This chapter presents the summary of findings, the conclusion, and the proposed
recommendation as a result of the study.

Summary of Findings

There are 36 or (48 %) male respondents, while the female respondents are 39 or (52 %).
It can be implied that the respondents are dominated by female.

As reflected in table 2, that 18-35 years of age obtained a frequency of 27 or 36 %. 36-50

years of age obtained a frequency of 23 or 30.67 %, while 51-64 years of age obtained a

frequency of 16 or 21.33 %, and 64 years of age and older obtained a frequency of 9 or 12 %. It

can be inferred from the findings that the respondents were generally young in terms of age.

Based on the findings, most of the respondents belong to the 18-35 years of age. As indicated in

table 3, Single obtained a frequency of 18 or 24 %, Married obtained a frequency of 30 or 40 %,

Separated obtained a frequency of 8 or 10.67 %, Divorced obtained a frequency of 10 or 13.33

%, Widowed obtained a frequency of 6 or 8 %, and Living with partner obtained a frequency of

3 or 4 %. It can be deduce from the findings, the majority of respondents belong to Married,

which implied that most of married people always go to pharmacy to buy a medicine for the

family safety.

Based on the table 4 the average mean of the respondents’ perception on the attitude of

the pharmacy assistant is 3.96 which is interpreted as very good. Based on the indicators, the

pharmacy assistants are all very good towards the respondents.

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Conclusions

Based on the findings of the study, the following are the conclusions:

Gender profile and Perception of Costumer have a chi-square value of 118.3 and a p-

value of 0.177. Thus, it fails to reject the null hypothesis.

Age profile and Perception of Costumer have a chi-square value of 177.3 and a p-value of

0.813. Thus, it fails to reject the null hypothesis.

Marital Status profile and Perception of Costumer have a chi-square value of 224.3 and a p-value

of 0.501. Thus, it fails to reject the null hypothesis.

Therefore, there is no significant relationship between demographic profile of the

respondents and perception of costumer towards the attitude of pharmacy assistant.

Recommendations

Based on the findings and conclusions, the following are the recommendations.

1. Moderate improvement on the availability of community pharmacies in Ozamiz City due to

sufficient stocks of medicine and enhancement of the provision of information of the drug
through counselling.

2. Moderate improvement to consider also is the extra services like taking free blood pressure,
blood sugar, height, weight, etc, of the community pharmacies in Ozamiz City. Customer
demand to have a variety of extra services available to them.

3. Community pharmacies in Ozamiz City need to develop efficient marketing strategy in order
to attract clients and develop customer loyalty.