EPGDM

1. Case Based assignment 2 for MRIM subject for the 35 marks
Crocin
The safe drug for all. Our group chose Crocin, a product of SmithKline Beecham as
a subject for market research. Of late, Crocin, an Over-the-Counter (OTC) drug, has
been advertising on television. The company claims that sales of Crocin have
increased by 10% due to the advertising.
On the other hand, there have also been concerns among some that advertisements
for drugs such as Crocin have a tendency to promote self-medication, and this is a
cause for worry, especially among the medical community. There have also been
concerns, that such commercials may affect the prescription style of doctors. The
general feeling is that doctors have, in fact, stopped prescribing Crocin after the
widespread airing of the commercial.
Keeping in mind these diverse views, a market research was conducted in order to
get a fair idea about the general effect that the commercials for Crocin has had on its
sales. This is the primary objective of this research.
Research Objectives
The objectives of our study are as follows:
• The primary objective of our research was to study the impact of Crocin
commercials on the sale of Crocin. The company had claimed that the sales
of Crocin had increased by l0% after the advertisement. We wanted to test this
claim at least within our sample in the Harihar and Davangere region.
• Another major focus of the study was to glean if the commercial for Crocin
had in any way affected the consumer and/ or the influencer (i.e. the doctor)
and/or the distribution channel (i.e. the chemist)
• We wanted to study if the commercial for Crocin had in any way encouraged
self-medication.
Methodology
The basic methodology that we followed was the questionnaire method. To serve
our purposes, we designed three separate questionnaires for the consumer, the
retailer (i.e. the chemist), and the doctor. Each questionnaire was designed in a
manner so as to gain the maximum relevant information from the respondent taking
minimum of their time. The questionnaires that were designed are presented below:

3. Apart from the questionnaire method, we also tried to gather primary information
through informal conversations with the respondents, especially the doctors and the
chemists.
The market research was carried out in the towns of Harihar and Davangere. We
attempted to cover as wide an area as possible, and we were successful to a great
extent.
Sample Composition
Our sample comprised three categories of respondents:
1. Doctors
2. Chemists/Retailers
3. Consumers
Sample size: Our sample size for survey comprised 35 persons, the break up being as under:
Doctors (from Davangere) 15
Chemists (from Davangere and Harihar) 10
Consumers (from Davangere) 10

4. Experiences and Difficulties Faced in the Field
The market research that we conducted provided us an excellent opportunity to
implement all that we had learnt in our class room sessions in the practical outfield.
After having designed the questionnaire and having made a few minor changes, we
were ready to go out into the field to carry out the survey. As mentioned earlier, we
covered the Harihar and Davangere areas during our research. We found that the
respondents were very forthcoming and cooperated with us for the most part.
Nonetheless, we did face a few minor problems while conducting the survey. These
are as under:
• LANGUAGE PROBLEM: One of the main problems faced was the language.
Communication posed to be a problem in some cases, we were mistaken to be
sellers of Crocin! However, we were able to overcome the communication
problem to some extent as one of the group members was relatively
conversant in Kannada.
• SAMPLE: While conducting the survey among consumers, we found that the
locality that we were visiting was mainly inhabited by doctors. This maybe
because Davangere is home to a very large medical community. However,
this problem was solved by conducting the survey in a totally different area
of Davangere.
• LIMITATION: In the opinion of our group, the sample taken for the study is
too small and not representative enough to draw very relevant conclusions that
may hold good in the larger scheme of things. This, we feel, is a major
limitation of the study.
• NEW DOSAGE FORM: SmithKline Beecham has introduced a new dosage
form for paracetomol (Crocin-1000 mg tablet) used in cases of Osteo
Arthiritis. This dosage form is a prescription drug. However, our focus was
only on the 500 mg dosage of Crocin which is a Non-Steroidal Anti
Inflammatory Drug (NSAID), used as an antipyretic and in some cases an
analgesic. This limited the scope of our study.
Analysis
Our survey comprises three different questionnaires for the three different
categories of respondents.
Therefore, our analysis is also divided into three distinct parts, which we briefly
present here:

5. Doctor‘s Questionnaire
While analysing the data collected from the doctors, we basically
identified three important questions:
1. What is the drug you prescribe in case of fever?
2. What is the reason for the prescription of the
3. Have you seen the commercial for Crocin?
In response to the first question, 9 out of 15 doctors interviewed stated that they
prescribed Crocin in the case of fever. 4 of the 15 doctors prescribe Calpol for fever,
while the remaining 2 doctors prescribe any other formulation such as Paracetamol.
Thus, it is clear that in the case of our sample, Crocin is the preferred drug prescribed
by 60% of the doctors surveyed by us.
In response to the second question, regarding the reason for the prescription of the
above drug, 8 out of 15 doctors interviewed stated past experience as the major
reason for the prescription of the afore mentioned drug. This was followed by the
reason of minimum side effect caused by the prescribed drug, with 4 of 15 doctors
choosing this alternative. Surprisingly, only 1 of the respondents chose medical
representative as the reason for prescribing the drug. This is surprising because it is
common knowledge that medical representatives do in fact play a very major role in
promoting any drug and persuading the doctor to prescribe it. Our sample, however,
did not reflect this trend. Only 2 of the 15 doctors interviewed gave other reasons
for the prescription of the drug.
Thus, past experience is the overwhelming reason for the prescription of the
preferred drug in

6. the case of the sample covered, with 53.3% of respondents choosing this option.
The third important question in the case of the doctor’s questionnaire, was if they
had seen the commercial for Crocin. In response to this question, we were very
surprised to find that only 4 of the 15 doctors interviewed had actually seen the
commercial for Crocin. The remaining 11 doctors had never seen the commercial for
Crocin on TV. Therefore, in the case of our sample 60% of the doctors interviewed
had not seen the commercial for Crocin.
Major Findings (Doctor’s Questionnaire)
From an analysis of the data pertaining to the Doctor’s questionnaire, we arrived at
the following
conclusions:

7. • As is evident from the above analysis, Crocin is definitely the preferred drug
prescribed by doctors surveyed in our sample study. 60% prescribed Crocin,
which is followed by Calpol, prescribed by 26.7% of the doctors interviewed.
• Crocin being the preferred drug for prescription, the main reason for this is
overwhelmingly past experience, with 53.3% of our sample choosing this option.
• It was found that the Crocin commercial had not had much of an impact on the
prescription style of doctors. We could infer this from the informal conversations
that we were able to conduct with the doctors interviewed.
• As was expected, the survey showed that doctors were against self-medication.
This was gathered from the questionnaire as well as from the conversations with
the doctors.
Consumer’s Questionnaire
In the case of the consumer’s questionnaire, we took into consideration four main
questions:
1. What influences you to take self-medication?
2. Have you seen the Crocin commercial?
3. If yes, where have you seen the commercial?
4. On the basis of the advertisement, have you prescribed Crocin to your family or
friends?
In reply to the question on the main influencer for the consumer to take self-
medication, 6 of 10 respondents stated that past experience was the major reason for
self-medication. This meant that after having tried a certain drug which had been
prescribed by a doctor, the respondent then simply used that particular drug in the
future without reverting back to the doctor. Only 2 of 10 respondents stated that they
had resorted to self-medication on the basis of the advertisement. 1 respondent stated
the lack of time to visit a doctor as the reason for self-medication, while the
remaining 1 respondent gave other reasons.
On being asked if they had seen the Crocin commercial, every single respondent
replied in the affirmative. All 10 consumers interviewed had seen the commercial
for Crocin, showing that the commercial had a very effective penetration in case of
the consumer.

8. On being asked where they had seen the advertisement, 7 out of 10 consumers
responded that they had seen the advertisement on television, once again reiterating
the fact that the television commercial for Crocin had had a very good penetration
in the case of the consumer. Only one respondent each stated that they had seen the
advertisement in the print media, in chemist shops, and from other sources
respectively.

9. Major Findings (Consumer’s Questionnaire)
On the basis of the analysis of the questionnaires filled in by the consumers, we may
conclude the following:
• The preferred drug for fever is Crocin. Most consumers covered in our survey
stated Crocin as the preferred drug in case of fever, thus showing that Crocin
has a major advantage of being the preferred drug for prescription by doctors
as well as the drug of choice for the consumers.
• Most consumers are influenced by doctors. And as seen earlier Crocin is the
preferred drug for prescription. Thus, this finding follows from the previous
ones.
• 50% take self-medication from past experience and 20% are influenced by
ads.
• Most of them have seen the TV commercial and have recommended Crocin
to others.
Retailer’s Questionnaire
The first question that we asked in the case of the retailers is-what is the largest
selling brand of paracetamol? In response, 70% of retailers responded that Crocin
was the largest selling brand, while 30% responded that Calpol sold the most.

10. In the case of the questionnaire for retailers, we identified three basic questions for
our analysis.
These are:
1. Have you seen the TV commercial for Crocin?
2. Has there been any change in the sales of Crocin after the commercial?
3. What is the percentage of customers for Crocin who carry a prescription?
In response to the first question, we found that 6 of 10 chemists had seen the
commercial for Crocin, while only 4 responded that they had not seen the
commercial under question. Thus, a majority of 60% of the chemists had been
exposed to the commercial.
The next question was aimed at our primary objective of finding out the impact of
the commercial for Crocin on its sales. 80% of the retailers responded that the sales
of Crocin had increased by 12%-20% after the advertisement, thus showing that the

11. advertisement had a major positive impact on the sales of Crocin in the case of our
sample. Only one retailer stated that the sales of Crocin had in fact reduced after the
advertisement. One respondent stated that there had been no change in sales after the
advertisement.
Thus, it may be concluded that the commercial for Crocin has had a very positive
impact on its sales.
The next question of importance was to ascertain the percentage of customers of
Crocin who carry a prescription. We found that majority of retailers stating that less
than 10% of customers for Crocin carry a prescription. The remaining 20% retailers
stated that 10%-50% of the customers for Crocin carry a prescription.
Thus, it is evident that the prescription sales of Crocin are not very high.
Major Findings (Retailer’s Questionnaire)

12. On the basis of the data gathered from the retailer’s questionnaire, we may draw
the following conclusions:
• The largest selling brand of paracetamol is Crocin. This is evident from the
fact that 70% of the retailers stated that Crocin was the largest selling brand
followed by Calpol.
• Sales have increased after the TV ads, which is clear from the responses of the
retailers. Once again, this emphasises the positive impact that the
advertisement has had in the case of the consumers.
• Majority of its sales is OTC, as is evident from the fact that most of the
customers of Crocin do not carry a prescription.
Questions:
1. What will be your strategies for doctors’ segment? 10 marks
2. What will be your recommendations based on consumer’s part? 15 marks
3. What will be your recommendations based on retailer’s segment? 10 marks