As lógicas institucionais no mercado farmacêutico brasileiro

Abstract

The Brazilian pharmaceutical market has an impressive institutional complexity. Before reaching the final consumer, the pharmaceutical industry needs to interact with other important actors that influence consumption decisions: prescribing physicians and dispensing pharmacists or clerks. In addition, there are still strong regulations present in this context. Thus, under the lens of institutional logics, the present work proposes the existence of two logics cohabiting in this market: the commercial logic, characterized by the mercantile practices of the context; and the health logic, characterized by relationships in favor of patients' health, with health professionals at the center of the influence. This research also sought to understand the role of consumers in legitimizing practices influenced by these logics and how health professionals deal with relationships with patients and industry. We also sought to understand how the pharmaceutical industry makes use of this scenario, with different dominant logics, to adapt to market dynamics, investigating how marketers in this industry can successfully navigate these logics. For this, a historical analysis of the pharmaceutical market was carried out, followed by five in-depth interviews with professionals in the marketing and commercial areas of this industry. The results showed that consumers legitimize practices governed by these logics, as well as other actors in the chain. Finally, to help industry marketers navigate these logics and deliver assertive strategies in this market, a framework was proposed for managing the types of product strategy in plural logic markets.