How the public views hospital advertising: An empirical analysis

Abstract

This article represents the responses of 430 individuals to a mail survey examining views concerning advertising by hospitals. Historically, most professions prohibited licensed members from engaging in speech activities that proposed a commercial transaction, that is, advertising. However, the history of a hospital's legal right to advertise is not the main focus of this article. A brief review of the past, present, and possible future of such rights might assist readers in understanding the revolutionary constitutional and commercial speech changes that have occurred over the past three decades. A hospital's legal right to advertise has developed as part of the evolutionary interpretation of the First Amendment of the US Constitution. The purposes of this study were to determine (a) the public's attitudes toward advertising by hospitals and (b) whether age, education, gender, marital status, number of children in household, occupation, race, and total family household income of an individual accounted for any significant differences in attitudes regarding hospitals that advertise.

Hospital Advertising, Competition, and HCAHPS: Does It Pay to Advertise?

“…Patient involvement in choosing providers has increased, motivating hospital administrators to use advertising to communicate with patients directly. Consumers have accepted that hospitals advertise; surveys show that most people regard advertising by hospitals as beneficial (e.g., Miller and Waller ; Moser and Freeman ).…”

Why Do So Few Consumers Use Health Care Quality Report Cards? A Framework for Understanding the Limited Consumer Impact of Comparative Quality Information

“…Critics worry about the potential waste of resources on advertising and its potential to misinform all but savvy consumers, while supporters regard such spending useful for apprising patients about relative quality and availability of resources. Surveys indicate the general public holds a benign view of advertising by the medical industry (Moser & Freeman, 2011).…”