Table 1 Research questions and hypotheses related to purchase intentions of OTC drugs

Research Question: Does price advertising affect consumer purchase patterns of OTC drugs?

Hypothesis 1 Participants presented with different OTC advertisements show significantly different purchase intensions

H1(a)

a. Participants’ purchase intention is greater for the branded OTC drug compared to the generic OTC drug when no price is presented (brand effect)

H1(b)

b. Participants’ purchase intention is greater for the low-priced generic OTC drug compared to the high-priced branded drug (price awareness)

Research Question: How do relevant perceptual factors affect the relationship between price or brand cues and consumers’ purchase intention?

Hypothesis 2 Price and brand information explain a significant proportion of the variance of purchase intention in absence of other potential predictors

Hypothesis 3 Perceived quality and perceived risk fully mediate the relationship between brand information and purchase intention

H3(a)

a. Exposure to branded drug advertisements increases perceptions of quality and decreases perceptions of risk, whilst the reverse is true for advertisements of generics

H3(b)

b. There is a significant positive relationship between perceived quality and purchase intention

H3(c)

c. There is a significant inverse relationship between perceived risk and purchase intention

H4 Perceived quality and perceived risk fully mediate the relationship between price information and perceived value, which in turn predicts purchase intention

H4(a)

a. Exposure to high-priced drug advertisements increases perceptions of quality and decreases perceptions of risk (original price-perceived quality effect), the reverse is true for low-priced advertisements

H4(b)

b. There is a significant positive relationship between perceived quality and perceived value

H4(c)

c. There is a significant inverse relationship between perceived risk and perceived value