Applicatiion of Almost ideal demand system for a pharmaceutical

This thesis is an application of the Almost Ideal Demand System approach of Deaton and Muellbauer,1980, for a particular pharmaceutical, Citalopram, in which GORMAN´s (1971) multi-stage budgeting approach is applied basically since it is one of the most useful approach in estimating demand for differentiated products. Citalopram is an antidepressant drug that is used in the treatment of major depression. As for most other pharmaceuticals whose the patent has expired, there exist branded and generic versions of Citalopram. This paper is aimed to define its demand system with two stage models for the branded version and five generic versions, and to show whether generic versions are able to compete with the branded version. I calculated the own price elasticities, and it made me possible to compare and make a conclusion about the consumers’ choices over the brand and generic drugs. Even though the models need for being developed with some additional variables, estimation results of models and uncompensated price elasticities indicated that the branded version has still power in the market, and generics are able to compete with lower prices. One important point that has to be taken into consideration is that the Swedish pharmaceutical market faced a reform on October 1, 2002, that aims to make consumer better informed about the price and decrease the overall expenditures for pharmaceuticals. Since there were not significantly enough generic sales to take into calculation before the reform, my paper covers sales after the reform.

Brand Awareness among Customers : A case study of ICA-Kvantum

This research paper has been prepared by Bachelor students from Dalarna University in Borlänge. The project is centered on a case study of ICA – Kvantum and its brand awareness among customers. The purpose of this study is to find out that which measures can help ICA-Kvantum to create brand awareness among its current and potential customers by looking in to the importance of information of its offerings and use of effective communication tools to convey this information. Further, to recommend them what they need to do, to increase brand awareness among their customers with the help of managerial implications. The research question was formulated as what actions could be seen effective for ICA-Kvantum to maintain or improve brand awareness among its current and potential customers.The project was created with the help of theoretical concepts of brand awareness, brand loyalty, perceived quality, consumer decision model, integrated marketing communication approach and strategic planning process. These theories were applied in this thesis in order to find out the most effective communication measures to maintain or improve brand awareness among current and potential customers of ICA-Kvantum.The primary and secondary data was collected. Primary data was gathered through the survey among ICA-Kvantum customers in the front of the store in Borlänge. The personal interview with manager was conducted in the office of ICA-Kvantum store located in Borlänge. Secondary data was gathered from textbooks, academic journals, theses and websites.The empirical findings have been presented in detail and then analyzed with the help of theoretical concepts. The analysis and further results from survey and interview focused on importance of information, marketing communication tools, brand awareness and loyalty, perceived quality and implementation of strategic planning process. Moreover, the main weaknesses and strengths of ICA-Kvantun have been evaluated. The conclusion including short summary of analysis and its results have been provided at the end. Each weakness of issues related to brand awareness i.e. importance of information, effectiveness of marketing communication tools and strengths and weaknesses of ICA-Kvantum discussed in the paper, has been pointed out along with solutions and managerial implications.