The Effects of Print Format in Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Advertisements on Risk Knowledge and Preference *

Abstract

This research examined the effects of format in print direct-to-consumer (DTC) prescription drug advertisements in communicating benefit and risks. Print advertisements for six fictitious drugs were created. Each drug was manipulated on the basis of six conditions, differing on the basis of color and the integration or separation of the benefit and risk information. A sixth condition (control) lacked risk information. Participants were presented with the DTC advertisements. Performance on a subsequent knowledge test of benefit and risk information was measured. Later participants were shown six advertisements of a single drug advertisement each representing the manipulations and were asked to rank them on perceived effectiveness of communicating drug benefits and risks. Results showed that the presence of physical features (eg, color) that distinguish the risk information from other text facilitated knowledge acquisition and increased perceived effectiveness ranks. Implications for the presentation of print risk information in advertisements are discussed.