Purpose Without having a shared operationalization of what constitutes a direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) exposure, it is impossible to accurately generalize findings about their effects. First, it needs to be established how the variables involved in exposures impact outcomes. This will allow for more accurate operationalizations. Design/methodology/approach A sample of 216 participants were recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk and randomly assigned into one of four conditions to take an online survey. A 2 × 2 experiment (active/passive attention × low/high exposure) was conducted to determine if the level of attention, otherwise known as attentiveness, and the number of exposures impacted preferences for a fictitious prescription sleep aid. Findings Results indicated a significant difference among active and passive conditions such that active exposures resulted in stronger positive preferences. Research limitations/implications Studies using different operationalizations should not be aggregated for generalizations about the effects of DTCA of prescription drugs. Originality/value This paper urges researchers to clearly operationalize their definitions for “exposure” and to be hesitant about generalizing findings studies using different definitions.