Direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising of predictive genetic tests (PGTs) has added a new dimension to health advertising. This study used an online survey based on the health belief model framework to examine and more fully understand consumers' responses and behavioral intentions in response to a PGT DTC advertisement. Overall, consumers reported moderate intentions to talk with their doctor and seek more information about PGTs after advertisement exposure, though consumers did not seem ready to take the advertised test or engage in active information search. Those who perceived greater threat from the disease, however, had significantly greater behavioral intentions and information search behavior.

Purpose -Predictive genetic tests (PGTs) have greatly increased their presence in the market, and, much like their pharmaceutical peers, companies offering PGTs have increasingly used direct-to-consumer advertising as part of their promotional strategy. Given many PGTs are available without a prescription or physician order and the lack of empirical research examining the effects of PGT-DTC, this paper seeks to examine consumer attitudes, intentions, and behavior in response to a PGT-DTC ad with and without a prescription requirement. Design/methodology/approach -A single factor, between subjects online survey design with the presence or absence of a prescription requirement as the experimental variable was used to evaluate consumers' attitudes, intentions, and behavior in response to a predictive genetic test DTC advertisement. A minimum sample size of 198 was determined a priori and 206 surveys were completed within five hours of deployment to 600 randomly selected general consumer participants for a response rate of 34.3 percent (206/600), with 106 in the prescription requirement group and 100 in the non-prescription group. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, and chi-square techniques were used to examine the various dependent variables (consumer attitudes, behavioral intentions, and the pre-defined behavior measure) and their differences. Findings -Overall, consumers hold favorable attitudes to PGT-DTC ads, but did not intend to engage in physician discussion, take the test or perform information search behavior. The effect of a prescription requirement was not significant, as no differences were seen with the attitude and behavioral intention dependent variables. Originality/value -At this still relatively young point in the PGT cycle, consumers still seem to be skeptical about the value of predictive genetic tests and their associated DTC advertisements.