Branded or Generic? Adults Share Preferences in Study

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Close to 16 percent, or 37 million of adults agree that paying more for branded prescription medications rather than getting generic products, according to Kantar Media’s 2013 OTC/DTC Study. Forty-five percent or 106 million adults disagree. Despite the disparity in attitudes, there are nearly 40 million adults who disagree with the statement while still choosing to treat a health condition with a branded prescription drug.

People aged 50 years or older are 19 percent more likely to agree with the statement, compared to people between the ages of 18 and 34 who are 22 percent less likely to agree. Those in poor health are 40 percent more likely to agree; people in excellent health are 18 percent more likely to disagree.

“Among those that agree, one out of four (26 percent) have taken a generic prescription for a condition in the last 12 months,” Kantar Media’s Healthcare Research Team told Med Ad News Daily. “Forty-two percent have taken a branded prescription for a condition in the last 12 months. Among those that disagree, 39 percent have taken a generic prescription for a condition in the last 12 months. Thirty-seven percent have taken a branded prescription for a condition in the last 12 months.”

The top conditions for which patients are receiving prescription medications are hypertension with seven million adults, high cholesterol with five million adults, and cold/flu with four million adults. “We also found that adults with household annual incomes between $50,000 to $75,000 are 32 percent less likely to agree with that it’s worth paying more for branded Rx vs. generics,” the researchers said. “On the opposite side of the spectrum, we found that adults with $250,000 or more in annual household income are 40 percent more likely to agree that it’s worth paying more for branded Rx.”

Adults who are on either Medicare or Medicaid are more likely to agree with paying more for branded prescription medications rather than getting generic products, according to the research team. Fifteen percent of men agree, 43 percent of men disagree, 43 percent of men neither agree nor disagree. Seventeen percent of women agree, 47 percent of women disagree, and 36 percent of women neither agreed nor disagreed.