Disease-specific direct-to-consumer advertising for reminding consumers to take medications

To assess the relationship between disease-specific direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising, via traditional advertising effectiveness measures, and consumers' self-reported medication-taking behavior.

Data were gathered for 514 respondents (age 18 and above) using an online survey panel. Participants were exposed to a disease-specific (i.e., nonbranded) DTC advertising for depression. The advertising stimulus created for the study was based on the Food and Drug Administration guidelines for disease-specific DTC advertising and modeled after current print disease-specific DTC advertising. Participants reviewed the advertising stimulus through the online program and then responded to a questionnaire containing closed-ended questions assessing the constructs. Data were analyzed using chi-square tests. All tests were interpreted at an a priori alpha of 0.05.

Significantly more respondents who were highly involved, paid more attention to the advertisement, and were responsive to DTC advertisements in the past indicated that the disease-specific DTC advertising stimulus reminded them to take their depression and other medications.

These exploratory results show disease-specific DTC advertising can help people remember to take their prescription medication when viewed, which may lead to more positive medication-taking behavior and increased medication adherence. Additionally, given the fair balance and legal issues surrounding product-specific DTC advertising, disease-specific DTC advertising can serve as an effective component of the marketing mix for pharmaceutical manufacturers. Future research should attempt to study the impact of disease-specific DTC advertising on consumers' actual medication adherence using standardized adherence measures such as prescription records.