調節聚焦訊息框架對慢性病患者轉向本土品牌的影響及其機制研究——基於解釋水平視角

Abstract

In the globalized market, consumers increasingly face choices between global and local brands when selecting products. However, consumer inertia, particularly the behavioral habits of middle-aged and elderly consumers, significantly heightens the difficulty of brand switching. This phenomenon of consumption inertia and barriers to brand switching is especially prominent in the chronic disease medication market, which primarily serves older demographics. Due to insufficient consumer awareness and trust in local brands, foreign brands have long dominated China’s chronic disease medication market, posing significant challenges to domestic innovative pharmaceutical companies and late-market entrants. Effectively guiding consumers’ psychological perceptions to stimulate their willingness to switch brands has become a critical strategic issue for local brands. This study focuses on optimizing the design of marketing message framing for chronic disease medications to incentivize consumers to switch from international to domestic brands.

Given the characteristics of chronic disease medications, this research employs regulatory focus message framing as a key antecedent to stimulate brand switching among patients. Additionally, considering that consumers’ responses to information are influenced by construal levels, this study incorporates construal level theory to examine the moderating effects of three psychological distance dimensions—social, spatial, and temporal distance—on the relationship between regulatory focus message framing and patients’ brand switching intentions. Specifically, this study addresses three questions: (1) How does regulatory focus message framing influence chronic disease patients’ willingness to switch to local brands? Does its effect differ between doctors and patients? (2) What mechanisms underlie the impact of regulatory focus message framing on brand switching intentions? (3) How do different dimensions of psychological distance moderate this relationship?

Five scenario-based experiments were conducted. Experiments 1 and 2 tested the impact of regulatory focus on brand switching intentions. Experiment 1 (patient sample) revealed that promotion-focused message framing (emphasizing gains) significantly enhanced patients’ switching intentions compared to prevention-focused framing (emphasizing losses). Experiment 2 (doctor sample) yielded similar findings, showing that promotion-focused framing was more effective in motivating doctors to recommend brand switches. Experiments 3, 4, and 5 examined the moderating roles of social, spatial, and temporal distance. Results indicated that social and temporal distance significantly moderated the relationship: under distant social/temporal conditions, promotion-focused framing led to higher switching intentions, whereas prevention-focused framing was more effective under proximal conditions. However, spatial distance showed no significant moderating effect.

The theoretical contributions of this study include: (1) enriching brand switching literature by identifying message framing as a novel antecedent and revealing perceived product efficacy as a mediating mechanism; (2) extending regulatory focus theory to chronic disease brand switching contexts and clarifying its performance under varying construal levels; (3) validating the applicability of construal level theory in brand switching decisions and testing multi-dimensional psychological distance effects; (4) expanding research on perceived product efficacy by establishing message framing as a key informational antecedent.

Practically, this research provides actionable insights for domestic pharmaceutical companies to design targeted marketing strategies. First, it highlights the critical role of message framing in guiding brand switching behavior, suggesting that firms should craft compelling narratives to justify switching. Second, integrating regulatory focus and construal level theory enables deeper insights into consumer decision-making processes, aiding in the development of precise marketing strategies. Finally, by exploring brand switching intentions from product-specific and stakeholder perspectives, this study offers a holistic framework for balancing multiple factors in marketing campaigns.

Date of Award	4 Jun 2025
Original language	Chinese (Traditional)
Awarding Institution	City University of Hong Kong
Supervisor	Chi WONG (Supervisor) & Xianghua Lu (External Supervisor)