Enhancing information acquisition for over-the-counter medications by making better use of container surface space

Most over-the-counter (OTC) pharmaceutical container labels are printed in very small type. Consequently, people with visual impairments (e.g., presbyopia in older adults) have difficult reading the material. Some OTC drugs are packaged in containers with easy-open caps. This design increases the surface area that could be used to enhance the labeling. In Experiment 1, older adults (M = 75.1 years, SD = 8.1) evaluated six container label variants for an actual OTC product. Besides having a multipanel main label, four containers had labels attached to the cap that displayed the most important information in large print but differed in color. Two control containers lacked a cap label; one had only a four-panel main label, and the other had only the front label. Participants ranked the containers on six dimensions (e.g., label noticeability, willingness to read). Results showed greater preference for containers with the cap labels. Experiment 2 again examined preferences but also measured information-acquisition performance after participants (M = 79 years, SD = 5.8) were briefly exposed to a realistic-appearing, but fictitious, OTC medication. Results showed greater knowledge and preference for containers with the cap labels. Experiment 2 showed that one of the cap colors (yellow) that was different from the main label was preferred over the white and orange (the same colors as on the main label), but color distinctiveness as an explanation was not fully supported because the green cap was not significantly different from the other cap labels. Implications for communicating information about OTC drugs using expanded labels are discussed.