title: Shopper marketing: a new challenge for Spanish community pharmacies.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Changes that have occurred over the past few decades in retailing and in the health care sector--namely, a drastic reduction in drug profit-margins, and a more critical use of health services by patients--have created a scenario characterized by rising competitiveness. This new context is necessitating community pharmacies (hereafter, pharmacies) to improve their business model through new strategies. Shopper marketing has proven invaluable in other retail settings and therefore, could be a critical element for new practices in pharmacies.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  First, to analyze how shopping experiences in pharmacies based on new practices in shopper marketing affect shopping behavior. Second, to study the mediating effect of customer satisfaction on the relationship between shopping experiences and shopping behavior.
  
  
  METHODS
  A self-reported questionnaire was developed to measure four concepts: hedonic experience (enjoyable), functional experience (goal-oriented), customer satisfaction and shopping behavior. Data were collected from 28 different pharmacies dispersed throughout Spain. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the relationships in the theoretical model. First, the measurement model was estimated to assess model fit, reliability, convergent and discriminant validity. Then, the parameters of the structural model were estimated and the mediation effects were subsequently tested.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Functional experience and hedonic experience each significantly and positively correlate with consumer satisfaction and with customer shopping behavior (purchases and loyalty). Moreover, the effects of each type of experience on shopping behavior are partially mediated by customer satisfaction.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results suggest that even in Spanish pharmacies, which have traditionally been considered as strictly functional retailers, ensuring customer satisfaction and enhancing shopping behavior now demand more than just functional experiences. Moreover, a customer's experience at a pharmacy can itself trigger a shopping cycle; therefore, pharmacists should consider prioritizing investments in hedonic experiences.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Comercialización e Investigación de Mercados, Facultad de Ciencias de la Información, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Avda. Complutense s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: dgavilan@ccinf.ucm.es.
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gavilan
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Comercialización e Investigación de Mercados, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Avello
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Comercialización e Investigación de Mercados, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Abril
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D040541:Marketing; D008875:Middle Aged; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010594:Pharmacies; D013030:Spain; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Customer satisfaction; Experience; Pharmacy; Shopper marketing; Shopping behavior