CAPSULE

The project CAPSULE (Collecting and sharing information on the Consumers’ Awareness about the Purchase of SUbstandard and falsified medicines onlinE to support better e-commerce practices) aims to fill the gap of empirical knowledge on consumers’ awareness about the existence of substandard and falsified medicines (SFMs) and the risk of purchasing them online.

To this end, we will conduct a survey among consumers in Italy and Spain to gain knowledge about consumer awareness, their exposure to SFMs advertising online, the prevalence of SFMs purchasing online, and their ability to distinguish legitimate products from SFMs advertised online. The results of the survey will be validated and discussed with an international panel of experts from public authorities and private companies.

The project also aims to shed light on the potential benefits or negative externalities of strict regulatory regimes on consumer behaviour and risk exposure, allowing comparisons with countries with a more deregulated market. The results of the CAPSULE project will help brand owners and policy makers to design effective consumer information campaigns and to optimise online product listings.