While consumer judgments and decisions regarding the use of prescription medicine emerge through multiple layers of influence, the current study focused on the effects of specific persuasive appeals strategically placed in direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising. This study revealed a loss-framed DTC advertisement, with focus on the costs of not taking a prescription drug, had more impact on college students' attitudes toward an emergency contraception medicine and intentions to seek further information about it, consult a health professional to discuss it, and intentions to use it. For the category of allergy medicine, gain- and loss-framed DTC ads were equivalent in their effectiveness. The study also revealed the interactive effects of message framing and drug category on drug use intentions were mediated by attitudes, information search intentions, and consultation intentions. We concluded by discussing the findings' implications for the practice of DTC advertising.
SasichL. D. (1999) Peddling pills: The rise of direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising and the dangers to consumers. Multinational Monitor20: 23–26.
2.
MorganC.LevyD. (1998) To their health. Brandweek39: 30–33.
3.
US General Accounting Office. (2003) Prescription Drugs: FDA Oversight of Direct-to-Consumer Drug Advertising has Limitations. Washington DC: US General Accounting Office.
4.
US Government Accountability Office. (2006) Prescription Drugs: Improvements Needed in FDA's Oversight of Direct-to-consumer Advertising. Washington DC: US Government Accountability Office.
5.
WadmanM. (2005) Drug firms vow to tone down consumer advertisements. Nature Medicine11: 910.
6.
ZachryW. M.IIIShepherdM. D.HinichM. J.WilsonJ. P.BrownC. M.LawsonK. A. (2002) Relationship between direct-to-consumer advertising and physician diagnosing and prescribing. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy59: 42–49.
7.
DonohueJ.BerndtE.RosenthalM.EpsteinA.FrankR. (2004) Effects of pharmaceutical promotion on adherence to the treatment guidelines for depression. Medical Care42: 1176–1185.
8.
DonohueJ. M.BerndtE. R. (2004) Effects of direct-to-consumer advertising on medication choice: The case of anti-depressants. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing23(2): 115–127.
9.
BellR. A.KravitzR. L.WilkesM. S. (2000) Direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising, 1989–1998: A content analysis of conditions, targets, inducements, and appeals. Journal of Family Practice49(4): 329–335.
10.
MaciasW.LewisL. S. (2003/2004) A content analysis of direct-to-consumer (DTC) prescription drug web sites. Journal of Advertising32(4): 43–56.
11.
ParkerB. J.DeleneL. M. (1999) The marketing of direct-to-consumer prescription drugs: An examination of advertising content. Journal of Promotion Management5(1): 37–55.
12.
RothM. S. (1996) Patterns in direct-to-consumer prescription drug print advertising and their public policy and marketing implications. Journal of Public Policy and Marketing15: 63–75.
13.
RothmanA. J.BartelsR. D.WlaschinJ.SaloveyP. (2006) The strategic use of gain- and loss-framed messages to promote healthy behavior: How theory can inform practice. Journal of Communication56: S202–S220.
14.
KahnemanD.TverskyA. (1979) Prospect theory: An analysis of decision under risk. Econometrica47: 263–291.
15.
TverskyA.KahnemanD. (1981) The framing of decisions and the rationality of choice. Science221: 453–458.
16.
CesarioJ.GrantH.HigginsE. T. (2004) Regulatory fit and persuasion: Transfer from ‘feeling right’. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology86: 388–404.
17.
LeeA. Y.AakerJ. L. (2004) Bringing the frame into focus: The influence of regulatory fit on processing fluency and persuasion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology86: 205–218.
18.
ChangC. T. (2007) Health-care product advertising: The influences of message framing and perceived product characteristics. Psychology & Marketing24(2): 143–169.
19.
RothmanA. J.MartinoS. C.BedellB. T.DetweilerJ. B.SaloveyP. (1999) The systematic influence of gain- and loss-framed messages on interest in and use of different types of health behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin25: 1355–1369.
20.
RudellF. (1979) Consumer Food Selection and Nutrition Information. New York: Praeger.
21.
PhamM. T.AvnetT. (2004) Ideals and oughts and the reliance on affect versus substance in persuasion. Journal of Consumer Research30(4): 503–518.
22.
BaronR. M.KennyD. A. (1986) The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology14: 178–184.
23.
DavisJ. J. (2000) Riskier than we think? The relationship between risk statement completeness and perceptions of direct-to-consumer advertised prescription drugs. Journal of Health Communication5: 349–369.
24.
DavisJ. J.MeaderA. (2009) Beyond content analysis: Assessing fair balance in DTC pharmaceutical advertising. Journal of Medical Marketing9(1): 57–66.
25.
BroemerP. (2001) Relative effectiveness of differently framed health messages: The influence of ambivalence. European Journal of Social Psychology32: 685–703.
26.
FlynnR. L.GoldsmithE. R. (1991) A short, reliable measure of subjective knowledge. Journal of Business Research46(1): 57–66.
27.
FinneyL.IannotiR. (2002) Message framing and mammography screening: A theory-driven intervention. Behavioral Medicine28: 5–14.
28.
JonesL.SinclairR.CourneyaK. (2003) The effects of source credibility and message framing on exercise intentions, behaviors, and attitude: An integration of the elaboration likelihood model and prospect theory. Journal of Applied Social Psychology33(1): 179–196.
29.
BrownS. P. (1995) The moderating effects of in-supplier/out-supplier status on organizational buyer attitudes. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science23(3): 170–181.
30.
HuhJ.DeLormeD. E.ReidL. N. (2005) Factors affecting trust in on-line prescription drug information and impact of trust on behavior following exposure to DTC advertising. Journal of Health Communication10: 711–731.
31.
SobelM. E. (1982) Asymptotic confidence intervals for indirect effects in structural equation models. In: LeinhardtS. (ed.) Sociological Methodology. Washington DC: American Sociological Association, pp. 290–312.
32.
SmithG. E. (1996) Framing in advertising and the moderating impact of consumer education. Journal of Advertising Research36(5): 49–64.
