What is Pharmaceutical Market Research?

Pharmaceutical market research involves gathering, analyzing, and interpreting data and information on the marketplace for a pharmaceutical product, generally a prescription medication. The main goal of pharmaceutical market research is to develop as realistic and objective an impression of the marketing opportunities of the pharmaceutical product as possible. This method offers researchers an early glimpse into the chances and risks connected with its development potential. 

In addition to helping patients, big pharma also benefits a wide range of other customers, including doctors who write prescriptions, hospitals that purchase and administer medications, distributors, and pharmacies that store and distribute them. With so many consumer types, pharma companies must be able to pinpoint the demographics and individuals whose challenges need addressing. They can accomplish this using a range of research techniques. Primary research is one technique out of many. In addition, researchers may also refer to secondary research material.

Why is Pharma Research Important?

Before we discuss further, let us first address why go into the trouble of having a market research team? Regardless of how good a brand thinks its products are, if the product does not address customer pain areas or gets implemented in a way that is not helping the target population, it may in all certainty, fail. 

This is where market research has a role to play. It provides an insight into what the target audience needs. The information gained through a robust market research plan helps guide product development and other research projects. In other words, market research is that part of any pharmaceutical company which ensures that the millions spent by the management get invested into something that is required and will, in the future, reap results. 

How is Pharmaceutical Market Research Conducted?

In quantitative market research, a group of people gets chosen to represent a sample section of the population. This group is called the panel. In the pharmaceutical sector, market research surveys are conducted using a sample panel of physicians or pharmacists.

A generalist perspective on the market for a particular product develops from the panel’s responses to the questionnaire.

Different Techniques for Pharmaceutical Research

In the case of pharmaceutical online market research, the survey consists of getting market data through online questions and answers. The benefits of using online pharmaceutical market research services are lower costs, easier deployment, and anonymity of the respondents. Additionally, this method makes it straightforward to include several media assets, including videos, pictures, and audio components. Its drawback is that only those with an Internet connection can participate in a survey.

On the contrary, when the market research is offline, information is gathered through in-person interviews, roundtable discussions, and printed surveys.

Key Features of Pharmaceutical Market Research

•     Identifying Customer Pain Areas

The customer base of a pharmaceutical company is varied. Besides patients, they also cater to doctors, distributors, and medicine retailers. With such a diverse range of customers, it becomes essential that pharmaceutical companies conduct thorough research to understand consumer pain areas. Market research should give them enough data on who should constitute their target group. While conducting this research, the team uses various techniques to identify customer requirements, fuelling business growth, in the process. 

•     Tracking Consumer Feedback

To increase the quantity and quality of feedback received, pharmaceutical market research teams provide a variety of platforms to clients for voicing their opinions. Digital survey links are disseminated among all potential clients to achieve the best results. The information gathered from client feedback is essential for business strategizing. The feedback can also prove valuable for creating and assessing new projects.

•     Penetrating Newer Markets

Pharmaceutical businesses, like any other enterprise in any other sector, are always looking at expanding operations beyond a known geographical periphery. Pharmaceutical market research plays a crucial role in helping organizations identify target groups outside the known region and understand their requirements and problems. The research and analysis services must have a broad scope of work where the surveys conducted are on a global scale, and in multiple languages. To achieve more efficient response rates, pharmaceutical companies should have surveys in the client’s or region’s local tongue.

Conclusion

Constant attempts by the pharma industry to upscale operations and penetrate new markets depend heavily on market research. Sadly, while many businesses offer market research services for various sectors, the life sciences and healthcare sectors are noticeably overlooked. The complexity of conducting market research within the pharmaceutical industry is mainly to blame. To carry out market research for medicines, it is, after all, essential to have a complete understanding of every step of the value chain for drug development. As technology has progressed, so has market research for pharma. Today, research teams crack complex pain areas and reach out to varied demographics thanks to online tools, the current driving force behind market research in the pharmaceutical sector.