Comm 3444 Final Study Guide Direct To Consumer Drug Advertising Direct To Consumer Advertising Traditionally most promotional efforts directed at health professionals You would see advertising in medical journals that Dr s would be reading Increasingly using DTCA to target patients directly taking out Dr and advertising directly to patient now The US is one of 2 developed countries that allow DTCA of prescription drugs and New Zealand US and NZ is exception Problems b c people see ad for prescription drugs and then think they need them In 2005 drug companies spent 4 2 billion on DTCA 7 2 billion promoting drugs to physicians 3 Categories of DTC Ads Help seeking ads One that gives consumers info about certain condition problem Ex introducing idea of seasonal allergies here are the symptoms and you might be suffering from this not mentioning specific drug company though just prompting people to seek help from their doctor Reminder ads Introduces the product but doesn t really talk about what it does and the condition that its treating or details about what will happen when you take this product reminder that the product is out there and to become familiar with the name and talk to your Dr about it More useful for somebody who already knows they have a certain condition and have heard about the brand before and a reminder saying that the drug is here VIOXX Product claim ads Name of the product brand tells you all about it what it does what it treats side effects who should use it 1997 FDA rules for broadcast ads Relaxed side effects rules for broadcast ads No longer required ads to thoroughly explain side effects Need major statement instead Major risks and contraindications Refer viewers elsewhere Adequate provision Ex toll free number website etc Push to Pull Marketing Push to Pull Marketing Strategy Marketing strategy was push and now pull marketing Push marketing was when you ve got the retailer who is selling the drug and they re persuader to supply the product Ex CVS you see it in the store w advertising and promotion and that is the push to buy the drug and consumer is influenced by promotion advertisement and they buy the product Consumer is at end of the model Pull marketing is when consumer is basically encouraging demanding a product more and that is how it ends up in the store Consumer sees ads on TV and becomes aware of certain products and think that they need them and becomes a demand for them Retailer then responds by supplying the products in store Consumers are driving force Attitudes Toward Prescription Drug Ads 2008 91 report having seen an ad for prescription drugs Assessed some attitudes Results prescription ads mostly a good thing Pros of DTC Ads Increased public awareness and thereby involvement in healthcare I don t have to be suffering from these symptoms I m going to go ask my Dr Helps educate consumers of potential conditions Learn more about conditions you may have Encourages them to see their Dr To get issues solved and get on the path to recovery Treatment compliance Just seeing these ads can serve as a reminder to take our medication heavy exposure to these ads can remind us to take our meds we re already on May reduce spending on other medical services such as hospitalization Get people treated so ultimately reduces the likelihood that they would have serious problems and end up in the hospital and pay for those expenses Cons of DTC Ads Critics argue that ads use mostly emotional appeals Communicate in sound bites vs scientific facts Selling a look lifestyle selling something else besides the product Consumers taking too many drugs Encourages attitudes that every single symptom needs to be treated and that can be problematic Dependence on drugs Understate adverse side effects People may pursue these drugs w out realizing what side effects are likely to follow TV ads can distract us from important info Is this the right medium for conveying this info Overstate health benefits Over diagnosis of a condition inappropriate use of prescription drugs People may begin diagnosing themselves when they actually don t have that condition and using drugs for a disease they don t have Drives up the overall cost of healthcare w out necessarily improve the health of those treated Advertising and Health food obesity and body image Effects of fashion magazines on high school females 2002 college women 1997 the more naturalistic experiment and young men 2006 Correlational Studies Fashion Mags Young Survey 500 high school females Reading fashion magazines was correlated w More disordered eating behaviors anorexia bulimia laxatives More body dissatisfaction Media Eating Disorders A More Naturalistic Experiment College women randomly assigned to a waiting room Room 1 fashion magazines Room 2 News magazines After a brief wait in the waiting room they filled out a questionnaire Females who in the waiting room w fashion magazines reported more dissatisfaction w weight guilt associated w eating fear of getting fat Effects of Fashion Magazines on Young Men Participants undergrad males Experiment 2 conditions random assignment Ads w male models product Ads w product alone Measure defect on Body Dissatisfaction Pre test and post test asked before and after they looked at ads Results viewing ads w male models led to more body dissatisfaction compared to product ads Conclusions males may be just as vulnerable as females to these effects Conclusions Advertising Solutions Plays a contributing role in self images and disordered eating Parents effects of media are less when parents are involved and have discussions w their children Media Literacy why pictures are there why models look that way etc Positive image campaigns role models Models that we see break the stereotype Dove Mechanisms linking TV and obesity 1 Displacement of other activity inactivity 2 Decreased energy expenditure inactivity Act of watching TV is linking with slower metabolic rate 3 Increased caloric intake content If you re watching a lot of TV you re not doing something else TV viewing correlated w junk food consumption Content Analysis of TV ads targeting children Kunkel Gantz 1992 Random sample of child oriented TV shows NBC CBS ABC 2 independent stations USA Nickelodeon Results Most ads are for toys and junk food 2007 content analysis of TV programming viewed by youth Types of food products in ads 0 for fruits or vegetables The Prime time Pyramid how it compares to USDA food guide pyramid Study of McDonald