Perceived Service Quality in Pharmacies in Enugu and Onitsha Urban Towns

Abstract

Pharmacies play a unique role in the healthcare management of their customers, having the responsibility of their customers’ medications and health behavior. To many consumers the pharmacies offer the first port of call when there is a healthcare need. Most of the healthcare consumers are usually constrained in their ignorance of the product as well as handicapped rational decision making as a result of their physical mental well-being. They are therefore dependent on service quality of the pharmacies for a rewarding experience. The commercialization of some pharmacies has tried to distract them from their professional role, and begins to wonder if this does not partly contribute the high rate of drug abuse and mis-use. In order to assess and improve the service quality offered by the pharmacies, two basic questions had to be dressed: what is quality of service and how can it be captured? Do consumers and pharmacists perceive the quality of service differently?