Patient evaluations of pharmacist performance with variations in attire and communication levels.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether the attire of a pharmacist has any effect on how he is evaluated when a patient also considers the pharmacist's performance and to assess whether attire and performance interact to influence patients' evaluations.


METHODS
Randomized, cross-sectional, three-factor design.


METHODS
Community pharmacy settings were portrayed.


METHODS
179 university staff members.


METHODS
Videos of pharmacist-patient interactions were encoded and placed on a Web site to be viewed by participants.


METHODS
Service encounter satisfaction, perceptions of overall service quality, trust in the service provider, and behavioral intentions based on two levels of pharmacist communication performance (high or adequate), three levels of dress style (casual, business casual, formal), and two levels of white coat (wearing or not).


RESULTS
Of the three independent variables, only communication performance was found to significantly influence the dependent variables. High communication performance resulted in higher satisfaction scores, higher perceptions of quality, higher levels of trust, and behavioral intention scores that reflected a greater willingness to use and recommend the pharmacist.


CONCLUSIONS
Style of dress or whether the pharmacist was wearing a white coat did not significantly influence participants' evaluations of the pharmacist in this study. Rather, the level of the pharmacist's communication performance was the most important cue used by participants in their ratings of service encounter satisfaction, perceptions of overall service quality, and trust in the service provider.
Bentley
John P
JP
Pharmacy Administration, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA. phjpb@olemiss.edu
Stroup
Lindsey J
LJ
Wilkin
Noel E
NE
Bouldin
Alicia S
AS
D000328:Adult; D003142:Communication; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010594:Pharmacies; D010595:Pharmacists / Q000592:standards*; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D014743:Videotape Recording