ABSTRACTS
Volume 9, Number 6
November–December 2004
Vol. 9, Number 6: Contents | Editorial
| Abstracts
Direct-to-Consumer Drug Advertisements
on Network Television: An Exploration of Quantity, Frequency, and Placement
Erica Brownfield A1, Jay Bernhardt A1, Jennifer
Phan A1, Mark Williams A1, Ruth Parker A1
A1 Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Prescription and over-the-counter(OTC)drug advertisements that appear
on television are among the most common forms of health communication
reaching the U.S. public, but no studies to date have explored the quantity,
frequency, or placement of these ads on television. We explored these
questions by recording all programs and advertisements that appeared
on network television in a southeastern city during a selected week
in the summer of 2001 and coding each prescription and OTC drug ad for
its frequency, length, and placement by time of day and television program
genre. A total of 18,906 ads appeared in the 504-hour sample, including
907 OTC drug ads(4.8%)and 428 prescription(Rx)drug ads(2.3%), which
together occupied about 8%of all commercial airtime. Although OTC drug
ads were more common, Rx drug ads on average were significantly longer.
Direct-to-consumer drug ads appeared most frequently during news programs
and soap operas and during the middle-afternoon and early-evening hours.
Overall, we found that direct-to-consumer drug advertisements occupy
a large percentage of network television commercial advertising and,
based on time and program placement, many ads may be targeted specifically
at women and older viewers. Our findings suggest that Americans who
watch average amounts of television may be exposed to more than 30 hours
of direct-to-consumer drug advertisements each year, far surpassing
their exposure to other forms of health communication.
Direct-to-Consumer Advertising
and its Utility in Health Care Decision Making: A Consumer Perspective
Aparna Deshpande A1, Ajit Menon A1, Matthew Perri
III A1, George Zinkhan A2
A1 Department of Clinical and Administrative Pharmacy, University of
Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA
A2 Department of Marketing and Distribution, University of Georgia,
Athens, Georgia, USA
The growth in direct-to-consumer advertising(DTCA)over the past two
decades has facilitated the communication of prescription drug information
directly to consumers. Data from a 1999 national survey are employed
to determine the factors influencing consumers' opinions of the utility
of DTC ads for health care decision making. We also analyze whether
consumers use DTC ad information in health care decision making and
who are the key drivers of such information utilization. The study results
suggest that consumers have positive opinions of DTCA utility, varying
across demographics and perceptions of certain advertisement features.
Specifically, consumers value information about both risks and benefits,
but the perception of risk information is more important in shaping
opinions of ad utility than the perception of benefit information. Consumers
still perceive, however that the quality of benefit information in DTC
ads is better than that of risk information. Opinions about ad utility
significantly influence whether information from DTC ads is used in
health care decision making.
A Content Analysis of Direct-to-Consumer
Television Prescription Drug Advertisements
Kimberly Kaphingst A1, William DeJong A2, Rima
Rudd A3, Lawren Daltroy A4
A1 Department of Society, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston,
Massachusetts, USA
A2 Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
A3 Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Boston University School
of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
A4 Department of Society, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts,
USA
A5 Department of Society, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts,
USA
A6 RBB Arthritis Research Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
This article reports the results of a content analysis of 23 direct-to-consumer(DTC)product-specific
television prescription drug advertisements broadcast during 2001. A
majority of ads used both medical and lay terms to convey medical ideas.
Most gave consumers somewhat more time to absorb facts about benefits
than those about risks, which could have implications for the“fair
balance”requirement. Complete references to additional product
information were given only in text, casting doubt on whether these
ads are making“adequate provision”for dissemination of detailed
product information. Overall, our results call into question the potential
of these ads to educate consumers.
Is the Information “Fair
and Balanced” in Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Websites?
Jisu Huh A1 and Brenda Cude A2
A1 School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Minneapolis, Minnesota,
USA
A2 College of Family and Consumer Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens,
Georgia, USA
This study applies the Food and Drug Administration's(FDA's)“fair-balance
disclosure”provision to examine the content of prescription drug
websites, specifically focusing on the quantity and quality of risk
information. The results show that even though most prescription drug
websites provide both risk and benefit information, the two types of
information are presented differently. This study suggests directions
for regulators to consider in writing a more specific rule to ensure
that information on prescription drug websites is balanced.
Evaluating Direct-to-Consumer Marketing of
Race-Based Pharmacogenomics: A Focus Group Study of Public Understandings
of Applied Genomic Medication
Benjamin Bates A1, Kristan Poirot A2, Tina Harris
A3, Celeste Condit A3, Paul Achter A4
A1 Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, USA
A2 University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA
A3 University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA
A4 University of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia, USA
Some medical providers have advocated applied genomics, including the
use of genetically linked racial phenotypes in medical practice, raising
fear that race-based medication will become justified. As with other
emerging medical genetic technologies, pharmaceutical companies may
advertise these treatments. Researchers fear that consumers will uncritically
accept pharmaceutical messages and demand the product. In this exploratory
study, we examined public reactions to advertisements for applied genomic
medications. A focus group methodology was employed. Participants tended
to resist the message and generated warrants for doing so, indicating
critical reception of the messages. Message accepters also provided
warrants. Warrants for resistance and acceptance differ between self-identified
racial groups. Consumers, health care providers, and pharmaceutical
corporations will benefit from a better understanding of direct-to-consumer
advertisements as medical communication. Our study concludes that both
advocates and opponents of direct-to-consumer advertisements should
recognize that potential consumers of pharmacogenomics act as critical
consumers of health advertising discourse.
DTC Advertising for Prescription Medicines:
Research and Reflections as the Second Decade Ends
Ken Rabin A1
A1 Ruder Finn, Inc., United Kingdom
This article does not have an abstract.
DTC Advertising
Robert Baukus A1
A1 Penn State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
This article does not have an abstract.
Acknowledgment
This article does not have an abstract.
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