Direct to consumer advertising

Mansfield, Peter; Mintzes, Barbara; Richards, Dee; Toop, Les

doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7481.5

Cited by 50 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…35 Alternatively, the New Zealand government is considering an outright ban of DTCA. [36][37][38] We found that DTCA often attempts to persuade viewers on grounds other than rational consideration of medical costs and benefi ts. Our fi ndings suggest the need to reconsider the distinction between selling soap or other consumer products and selling prescription drugs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Creating Demand for Prescription Drugs: A Content Analysis of Television Direct-to-Consumer Advertising

Frosch¹,

Krueger²,

Hornik³

et al. 2007

The Annals of Family Medicine

207

151

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PURPOSE American television viewers see as many as 16 hours of prescription drug advertisements (ads) each year, yet no research has examined how television ads attempt to infl uence consumers. This information is important, because ads may not meet their educational potential, possibly prompting consumers to request prescriptions that are clinically inappropriate or more expensive than equally effective alternatives. METHODSWe coded ads shown during evening news and prime time hours for factual claims they make about the target condition, how they attempt to appeal to consumers, and how they portray the medication and lifestyle behaviors in the lives of ad characters.RESULTS Most ads (82%) made some factual claims and made rational arguments (86%) for product use, but few described condition causes (26%), risk factors (26%), or prevalence (25%). Emotional appeals were almost universal (95%). No ads mentioned lifestyle change as an alternative to products, though some (19%) portrayed it as an adjunct to medication. Some ads (18%) portrayed lifestyle changes as insuffi cient for controlling a condition. The ads often framed medication use in terms of losing (58%) and regaining control (85%) over some aspect of life and as engendering social approval (78%). Products were frequently (58%) portrayed as a medical breakthrough.CONCLUSIONS Despite claims that ads serve an educational purpose, they provide limited information about the causes of a disease or who may be at risk; they show characters that have lost control over their social, emotional, or physical lives without the medication; and they minimize the value of health promotion through lifestyle changes. The ads have limited educational value and may oversell the benefi ts of drugs in ways that might confl ict with promoting population health.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Creating Demand for Prescription Drugs: A Content Analysis of Television Direct-to-Consumer Advertising

Frosch¹,

Krueger²,

Hornik³

et al. 2007

The Annals of Family Medicine

207

151

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…They note the argument that DTC improves knowledge assumes it provides dispassionate information, a role they suggest is at odds with the commercial imperative that underpins marketing (Mansfield et al, 2005;NZMA, 2006). As a result, they claim that DTC is inevitably unbalanced, as marketers seek to promote the benefits of drugs, while minimising attributes that may make these appear less attractive (Toop et al, 2003).…”

Section: Patients: Informed or Confusedmentioning

confidence: 96%

Ethical and practical implications of pharmaceutical direct‐to‐consumer advertising

Hoek

2007

J of Philanthropy and Mktg

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Although only possible in two nations, New Zealand and the United States, directto-consumer advertising (DTC) of prescription medicine has generated international controversy. This paper examines how DTC emerged, compares the different regulatory structures used to govern it and analyses the debate over the ethics and effects of DTC. While the value of providing information to consumers is indisputable, serious questions remain over the quality of information provided via DTC, whether any benefits it might bring offset its wider social and economic costs, and how best to achieve a balance between commercial and public health objectives.

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“…As a result, important but out-of-patent medications receive no attention whilst the newest (and hence most expensive and least proven) medications are vastly overrepresented. 10 The promotion of many individual drugs serves to promote drugs in general, producing a medicalized society reliant upon the quick fix of medication where many ills may be more appropriately, fully and cost-effectively addressed through lifestyle or social measures.…”

Section: Direct-to-consumer Advertisingmentioning

confidence: 99%