Evaluating the Impact of Organizational Investments in Medical Sales Representatives on Pharmaceutical Performance through Physician Promotion Channels

Abstract

Pharmaceutical companies globally and in the United States are restricted from directly marketing their products to end users, specifically patients, due to regulatory guidelines set by relevant authorities. As a result, the pharmaceutical industry depends heavily on medical sales representatives to promote products to healthcare providers, who subsequently prescribe these products to patients, with significant investments dedicated to promotional activities.However, evaluating the return on investment in medical sales representatives' efforts to influence healthcare providers' prescribing decisions to increase product prescriptions to end users is crucial for assessing overall marketing effectiveness. This study investigated whether organizational investments in medical sales representatives’ promotional efforts via healthcare provider endorsements significantly enhance organizational performance. Adopting a deductive research approach and a quantitative quasi-experimental design, the study surveyed a random sample of 338 respondents, including senior managers, middle managers, and medical sales representatives, selected from 368 registered pharmaceutical companies operating in the U.S. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire using a 1–5 scale to measure each item. The collected data were analyzed using R-Studio for correlation, linear regression, and path analysis. The study findings reveal that relationship marketing in the pharmaceutical sector emphasizes the pivotal role of incentivized medical sales representatives in building trust, strengthening prescriber (physician) loyalty, and achieving competitive advantage, all while addressing ethical and regulatory complexities.