Demographic and socio-psychological characteristics of consumers MCQs With Answer

Understanding demographic and socio-psychological characteristics of consumers is essential for B.Pharm students to provide patient-centered pharmaceutical care, improve medication adherence, and design targeted health interventions. This topic explores demographic variables (age, gender, income, education, occupation, family life-cycle) and socio-psychological factors (attitudes, beliefs, perceptions, motivation, personality, lifestyle, social class, reference groups, culture). Applying psychographics, segmentation, and health literacy concepts helps predict health-seeking behaviour, OTC and prescription use, response to risk communication, and acceptance of generics or new therapies. Emphasis on measurement, practical examples, and clinical implications links theory to pharmacy practice. Now let’s test your knowledge with 30 MCQs on this topic.

Q1. Which of the following lists best represents demographic characteristics?

• Age, gender, income, education
• Attitudes, beliefs, perceptions, motivations
• Personality traits, lifestyle, values, opinions
• Media habits, shopping frequency, search history, app usage

Correct Answer: Age, gender, income, education

Q2. Which option is primarily a socio-psychological factor affecting consumer health behaviour?

• Attitudes toward medication
• Household income
• Age group
• Occupational category

Correct Answer: Attitudes toward medication

Q3. Which family life-cycle change commonly alters medication purchasing patterns?

• Presence of young children leading to increased OTC purchases for fever and cough
• Change in home color affecting storage choices
• Change in preferred supermarket brand
• Switching from paper to digital prescriptions only

Correct Answer: Presence of young children leading to increased OTC purchases for fever and cough

Q4. Which of the following is an example of a psychographic variable?

• Personality
• Zip code
• Age
• Marital status

Correct Answer: Personality

Q5. Low health literacy most directly impairs which outcome?

• Medication adherence
• Tablet hardness
• Pharmaceutical excipient selection
• Regulatory approval timelines

Correct Answer: Medication adherence

Q6. Social class is commonly measured using which combination?

• Occupation, income and education
• Favorite TV show, social media followers, app usage
• Height, weight and blood pressure
• Daily pill count, storage temperature, dispersion rate

Correct Answer: Occupation, income and education

Q7. Which mechanism best describes how reference groups influence consumer medication choices?

• Peer recommendations and shared experiences
• Intrinsic drug solubility differences
• Regulatory dosing schedules
• Tablet manufacturing location

Correct Answer: Peer recommendations and shared experiences

Q8. Which of the following is a component of the Health Belief Model?

• Perceived susceptibility to a health problem
• Pharmacokinetic variability
• Manufacturing batch size
• Prescription refill interval

Correct Answer: Perceived susceptibility to a health problem

Q9. Which factor can increase patient acceptance of generic medicines?

• Trust in the pharmacist’s recommendation
• High brand advertising budget
• Celebrity endorsement of the branded product
• Product packaging with premium colors

Correct Answer: Trust in the pharmacist’s recommendation

Q10. Which demographic variable is the strongest predictor of chronic medication use?

• Age
• Eye color
• Height
• Preferred music genre

Correct Answer: Age

Q11. What research tool is most appropriate to quantitatively measure patient attitudes toward a drug?

• Survey using Likert-scale items
• High-performance liquid chromatography
• Blood glucose measurement
• Pharmacy inventory audit

Correct Answer: Survey using Likert-scale items

Q12. Psychographic segmentation typically groups consumers by which criteria?

• Lifestyle, values and personality
• Household tax identification number
• Prescription batch number
• Tablet dissolution profile

Correct Answer: Lifestyle, values and personality

Q13. Which perception most strongly influences initial self-medication with OTC drugs?

• Perceived severity of symptoms
• National GDP
• Ambient humidity
• Tablet color preference

Correct Answer: Perceived severity of symptoms

Q14. In the Health Belief Model, which of the following is considered a barrier to preventive action?

• High medication cost
• Age over 60
• Being male
• Urban residence

Correct Answer: High medication cost

Q15. How does social media commonly change consumer pharmaceutical behaviour?

• By spreading peer reviews and patient experiences
• By altering drug pharmacology
• By changing excipient composition
• By modifying regulatory law

Correct Answer: By spreading peer reviews and patient experiences

Q16. Which socio-psychological factor is most closely linked to long-term medication adherence?

• Patient motivation and health beliefs
• Ambient pharmacy lighting
• Pill size uniformity
• Manufacturer reputation only

Correct Answer: Patient motivation and health beliefs

Q17. Cultural influences on medication use often include which practice?

• Use of traditional or alternative remedies alongside medicines
• Preference for blue packaging over green
• Choosing pharmacies by street width
• Swapping tablet pills by weight

Correct Answer: Use of traditional or alternative remedies alongside medicines

Q18. When income distribution is skewed, which central tendency measure best represents a typical consumer?

• Median
• Mean
• Mode
• Range

Correct Answer: Median

Q19. Which personality trait is most associated with proactive health behaviours like routine check-ups?

• Conscientiousness
• Openness to new experiences only
• Extraversion only
• Impulsivity

Correct Answer: Conscientiousness

Q20. In pharmacy consumer segmentation, what does “life-stage” refer to?

• Position in the family life-cycle (e.g., student, parent, retiree)
• Preferred life insurance policy
• Physical shelf-life of a product
• Duration of cold seasons in a region

Correct Answer: Position in the family life-cycle (e.g., student, parent, retiree)

Q21. What is usually the first step in the health-seeking process for consumers?

• Recognition of symptoms
• Comparing pill colors
• Calling the drug manufacturer
• Checking pharmacy opening hours

Correct Answer: Recognition of symptoms

Q22. Adoption of e-pharmacies is most influenced by which consumer characteristic?

• Digital literacy and trust in online services
• Number of siblings
• Daily calorie intake
• Preferred offline payment currency

Correct Answer: Digital literacy and trust in online services

Q23. Which cognitive bias tends to lower perceived health risk among consumers?

• Optimism bias
• Availability heuristic only
• Confirmation bias only
• Anchoring on price

Correct Answer: Optimism bias

Q24. For patients with low health literacy, which communication strategy is most effective?

• Use simple, plain language and clear visuals
• Provide long technical leaflets
• Use multiple medical terminologies
• Rely solely on verbal instructions without demonstrations

Correct Answer: Use simple, plain language and clear visuals

Q25. The affective component of an attitude refers to which aspect?

• Feelings and emotions toward an object or behavior
• Beliefs or thoughts about the object
• Observable actions only
• Demographic background

Correct Answer: Feelings and emotions toward an object or behavior

Q26. Which qualitative research method is best for exploring socio-psychological consumer perspectives?

• Focus groups
• Drug dissolution testing
• Automated sales barcode scans only
• Temperature monitoring of storage

Correct Answer: Focus groups

Q27. Which factor most strongly predicts brand loyalty for a medicine?

• Previous satisfaction and trust in the product
• Color of the product box alone
• Country of manufacture printed in small font
• Pharmacy shelf height

Correct Answer: Previous satisfaction and trust in the product

Q28. Which of the following is NOT a demographic variable?

• Attitudes toward medication
• Education level
• Age
• Income

Correct Answer: Attitudes toward medication

Q29. Does family support commonly influence medication adherence?

• True
• False
• Sometimes, but not relevant
• Only in institutional settings

Correct Answer: True

Q30. Which consumer category in diffusion of innovations is most likely to try a new therapy early after launch?

• Early adopters
• Late majority
• Laggards
• Conservative followers

Correct Answer: Early adopters

Download