Consumer expectations of nonprescription medications according to location of sale

Objective: To determine whether the public has different expectations of nonprescription medications based on location of sale. Design: Cross-sectional, descriptive. Setting: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, during the summer of 2003. Participants: 2,102 randomly selected citizens. Intervention: Mail survey. Main outcome measures: Differences in expectations for potency, safety, adverse effects, effectiveness, and package information of products sold in pharmacies versus convenience stores. Results: The response rate was 57.2%. Most participants (81.2%) were aware that nonprescription medications could be purchased in convenience stores, but far fewer (42.3%) had done so. As one potential resource during purchases, pharmacists were held in reasonably high regard. Expectations with the greatest difference were of a merchandising nature. Respondents expected pharmacies to have a better quality and selection of products and lower prices. For drug-related attributes, differences were minimal but statistically significant. Conclusion: Location of sale does not appear to have any practical influence on consumer expectations of the drug-related attributes of nonprescription medications. Buyers of such products expect similar properties to be present regardless of location.