Covid-19 pandemic impact on Portuguese pharmaceutical firms’ service provided and communication channels

• Autor(a) principal: Olaio, Pedro de Araújo e Sá
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10071/27122
• topic: Portuguese pharmaceutical market; Communication channels; COVID-19; Prestação de serviços -- Provision of services; Mercado farmacêutico Português; Canais de comunicação

The covid-19 pandemic brought devastating repercussions to the entire human population, including the pharmaceutical sector. With lockdown restriction in place, the promotional area of pharmaceutical enterprises suffered drastic changes, where the service provided, and communication channels were impacted as well. On the other hand, when regarding multinational big size companies, the pandemic situation was more of an opportunity than a detrimental occasion, contrarily to non-covid product related companies. The objective of this dissertation is to qualitatively analyse the research problem at hand, the impact that the covid-19 pandemic had and is having on Portuguese pharmaceutical firms’ service provided and communication channels. Semi-structured interviews to two individuals with extremely high expertise level on the matter, focusing on small to medium enterprises, were made and participant observation to a sponsored pharmaceutical event was made as well to collect the data. This analysis will allow for a better understanding of the Portuguese pharmaceutical promotional market changes. The conducted research concluded that the covid-19 biggest change on the communication channels was the emergence of digital channels, with the decrease of the presential format, however, one won’t replace the other and both will complement one another. Additionally, a few innovative communication channels were identified. Portuguese pharmaceutical companies need to adapt to continuous market changes. In terms of service provided, the market trends are focusing on customer centred business approaches. Moreover, the desired service provided must consider the customer’s expectations and perceptions and ensure an impactful positive experience for the consumer.