Consumer Perceptions of Risk and Required Cost Savings for Generic Prescription Drugs

Objective: To examine consumer risk perceptions for generic prescription drugs used to treat different types of medical conditions, and to explore the relationship between risk perceptions and the amount of cost savings required before consumers would purchase the generic version of a prescription drug.

Design: Cross-sectional mail survey.

Setting: Metropolitan area in central Wisconsin.

Participants: Random sample of 500 consumers age 18 and older.

Interventions: None.

Main Outcome Measure: Responses to 16 items on 8-page questionnaire. None.

Results: The response rate was 71.4%. The percentage of respondents who perceived that generic prescription drugs were riskier than brand name products varied from 14.2% to 53.8%, depending on the medical condition being treated. Significantly larger cost savings were required for consumers to purchase generic prescription drugs with higher perceived risk.

Conclusion: Financial incentives to use generic prescription drugs may be successful, even for consumers who perceive generic drugs to be riskier than brand name prescription drugs. As the perceived level of risk increases, larger cost savings are required.