Factors Impacting Preference to Generic Medicines in India

Abstract

Recently Government mandate was issued in India, which asks physicians to prescribe only generic medicines. However, the implementation of the mandate is facing challenges from different fronts. Meanwhile it is important to understand if people in India prefer generic medicines over branded medicines. The main aim of this paper is to check the attitude of common people in India towards generic medicines, their perception of government initiatives and their impact on preference to generic medicines. A structured questionnaire was adapted from past studies and used to collect responses in Pune, India. The data was analyzed in Smart PLS 3.0. The findings suggested that attitude towards generic medicines and perception of government role in encouragement of generic medicines both have significant impact on Preference to generic medicines in India.