Factors influencing E-pharmacy adoption in India: A study of user experiences through interpretative phenomenological analysis
The rapid growth of e-commerce has led to the emergence of e-pharmacies, which enable consumers to purchase prescription medications online. This study aims to explore the factors influencing the adoption of e-pharmacies in India through an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach. Tw...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2025-03-01
|
| Series: | Exploratory Research in Clinical and Social Pharmacy |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667276624001471 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850043350646784000 |
|---|---|
| author | Kushal Pal Singh Pawan Kumar |
| author_facet | Kushal Pal Singh Pawan Kumar |
| author_sort | Kushal Pal Singh |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The rapid growth of e-commerce has led to the emergence of e-pharmacies, which enable consumers to purchase prescription medications online. This study aims to explore the factors influencing the adoption of e-pharmacies in India through an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach. Twelve in-depth interviews were conducted with individuals who had experience ordering prescription medicines through e-pharmacies. The findings revealed that constructs from the UTAUT2 model, including performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, price value, and habit, played a significant role in the adoption of e-pharmacies. Construct hedonic motivation, from UTAUT2, was found to be weakly significant in explaining the adoption of e-pharmacy. Additionally, health literacy was identified as a key factor, with e-pharmacy users demonstrating higher levels of health literacy. However, perceived risks, such as performance, financial, privacy, and psychological risks, were found to negatively influence the adoption of e-pharmacies. The study proposes, based on findings, a research model to understand consumer behavior in the adoption of e-pharmacies. The findings suggest that the presence of favorable conditions, such as convenience, accessibility, user-friendly interfaces, social influence, internet accessibility, integrated healthcare services, diverse payment methods, and price advantages, have contributed to the widespread acceptance and adoption of e-pharmacy services in India. The study highlights the need for future research to employ quantitative or mixed methods approaches to address the limitations of the current exploratory study and to investigate the multifaceted determinants of e-pharmacy adoption in different geographical contexts. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-013413c87f1f4cc5979de822c1214d5e |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2667-2766 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Exploratory Research in Clinical and Social Pharmacy |
| spelling | doaj-art-013413c87f1f4cc5979de822c1214d5e2025-08-20T02:55:16ZengElsevierExploratory Research in Clinical and Social Pharmacy2667-27662025-03-011710055010.1016/j.rcsop.2024.100550Factors influencing E-pharmacy adoption in India: A study of user experiences through interpretative phenomenological analysisKushal Pal Singh0Pawan Kumar1Mittal School of Business, Lovely Professional University, IndiaCorresponding author.; Mittal School of Business, Lovely Professional University, IndiaThe rapid growth of e-commerce has led to the emergence of e-pharmacies, which enable consumers to purchase prescription medications online. This study aims to explore the factors influencing the adoption of e-pharmacies in India through an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach. Twelve in-depth interviews were conducted with individuals who had experience ordering prescription medicines through e-pharmacies. The findings revealed that constructs from the UTAUT2 model, including performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, price value, and habit, played a significant role in the adoption of e-pharmacies. Construct hedonic motivation, from UTAUT2, was found to be weakly significant in explaining the adoption of e-pharmacy. Additionally, health literacy was identified as a key factor, with e-pharmacy users demonstrating higher levels of health literacy. However, perceived risks, such as performance, financial, privacy, and psychological risks, were found to negatively influence the adoption of e-pharmacies. The study proposes, based on findings, a research model to understand consumer behavior in the adoption of e-pharmacies. The findings suggest that the presence of favorable conditions, such as convenience, accessibility, user-friendly interfaces, social influence, internet accessibility, integrated healthcare services, diverse payment methods, and price advantages, have contributed to the widespread acceptance and adoption of e-pharmacy services in India. The study highlights the need for future research to employ quantitative or mixed methods approaches to address the limitations of the current exploratory study and to investigate the multifaceted determinants of e-pharmacy adoption in different geographical contexts.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667276624001471E-commerceE-pharmaciesInterpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA)PerformanceFinancialPrivacy |
| spellingShingle | Kushal Pal Singh Pawan Kumar Factors influencing E-pharmacy adoption in India: A study of user experiences through interpretative phenomenological analysis Exploratory Research in Clinical and Social Pharmacy E-commerce E-pharmacies Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) Performance Financial Privacy |
| title | Factors influencing E-pharmacy adoption in India: A study of user experiences through interpretative phenomenological analysis |
| title_full | Factors influencing E-pharmacy adoption in India: A study of user experiences through interpretative phenomenological analysis |
| title_fullStr | Factors influencing E-pharmacy adoption in India: A study of user experiences through interpretative phenomenological analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Factors influencing E-pharmacy adoption in India: A study of user experiences through interpretative phenomenological analysis |
| title_short | Factors influencing E-pharmacy adoption in India: A study of user experiences through interpretative phenomenological analysis |
| title_sort | factors influencing e pharmacy adoption in india a study of user experiences through interpretative phenomenological analysis |
| topic | E-commerce E-pharmacies Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) Performance Financial Privacy |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667276624001471 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kushalpalsingh factorsinfluencingepharmacyadoptioninindiaastudyofuserexperiencesthroughinterpretativephenomenologicalanalysis AT pawankumar factorsinfluencingepharmacyadoptioninindiaastudyofuserexperiencesthroughinterpretativephenomenologicalanalysis |