Healthy Skepticism Library item: 7544

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

Holmes ER, Desselle SP.
The prevalence of informational appeals in direct-to-consumer advertisements of prescription drugs among leading consumer magazines
Journal of Social and Administrative Pharmacy 2003; 20:(4):132-141

Abstract:

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of twelve types of informational appeals within direct-to-consumer advertisements (DTCA) in consumer magazines and compare the prevalence of these appeals by year of publication and gender of magazine readership. Method: A multi-group, cross-sectional design was utilized to analyze the content of DTCA in twelve consumer magazines. Findings: The average ad employed the use of 6.17 informational appeals. While nearly every ad contained information about the advertised product’s indication, dosage form, and side effects, very few of them provided information on appropriate warnings, onset of action, duration of effect, and duration of treatment. Trends were noted in the prevalence of certain types of appeals within ads aimed at readers differing by gender. Conclusion: The prevalence of informational cues changed very little over time, suggesting little, if any, effect on print ads by legislation and pressure from external stakeholders. Although a few of the informational cues were slightly less prevalent among ads in magazines read by females, there was no evidence to suggest that advertising practices by manufacturers was momentously skewed. Future study should focus upon how well consumers are able to process the informational appeals contained in these ads.