Healthy Skepticism Library item: 9238

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: Journal Article

Engle RL.
Impact of a single-advertiser publication on physicians' perceptions and expected prescribing behavior
J Pharm Mark Manage 1994; 8:(1):37-54

Abstract:

To examine the impact of a specific type of single-advertiser publication on physicians’ perceptions of the sponsoring pharmaceutical company and on the frequency with which they expect to prescribe the sponsor’s product, 4 books dealing with medical issues and containing 18 pages of advertising for the sponsoring company’s broad-spectrum antibiotic were mailed to 19,200 physicians who were targeted by the sponsoring company. Question areas focused on the physician’s ability to correctly identify the sponsoring pharmaceutical company, whether each book pictured in the questionnaire was received, how each book was read, and how the book was rated. The reading of at least 1 of the 4 single-advertiser hardcover books had a substantial impact on physicians’ perceptions of the sponsoring company and on the frequency with which physicians expected to prescribe the sponsoring company’s antibiotic. The results could not be attributed to sales force activity or to a response bias on the part of the readers. The magnitude of the effects increased with increasing exposure to the books and their advertising.