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Advertising of medicines on New Zealand television
Pauline Norris1, Lucy Nelson, Koal Lin Ling
1School of Pharmacy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. pauline.norris@stonebow.otago.ac.nz
Aims:
To measure the frequency of advertising of medicines on New Zealand television and to describe the distribution of advertising.
Methods:
A stratified random sample of 35 days (577.5 hours) of television was video-recorded, including five free to air channels for each day of the week. Videotapes were watched, then advertisements were recorded on a pre-designed form.
Results:
340 advertisements for medicines were identified, an average of 1 per 102 minutes; 37% of advertisements were for medicines available for general sale, 24% for dietary supplements, 21% for pharmacy- or pharmacist-only medicines, and 18% for prescription-only medicines. Four channels had similar amounts of advertising. Channels varied in the kind of medicines they had advertisements for. There were more advertisements per hour in the afternoon than in the morning or evening. Advertisements for medicines were found in a wide range of programmes, including children's programmes.
Conclusions:
People who watch particular programmes, or who watch television at some times of days may be exposed to considerably more than one medicine's advertisement per 102 minutes. While this study does not examine the effect of medicines advertisements on consumer behaviour, previous research suggests this may be significant.
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