Understanding how elderly patients process drug information: a test of a theory of information processing

The goal of this research was to apply a well-known model of consumer behavior, the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), to "direct-to-consumer" advertising of prescription drugs aimed at elderly consumers. In particular, the specific aim was to determine whether the effect of promotional aspects of consumer drug advertising predicted by the ELM could by demonstrated on elderly consumers' product attitudes and perceptions of risk.

Subject reaction to a fictitious drug advertisement was assessed using a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design based on the theoretical concepts of the ELM. the advertisement message varied in the expertise of the product endorser, the expected involvement or interest level of the study subject, and the content of the advertisement message.

Analysis of variance revealed a three-way interaction effect between involvement, argument quality, and source credibility on subjects' attitudes toward the product [F(1, 123) = 4.77, p = 0.03] and perceptions of risk [F(1, 118) = 3.22, p = 0.08]. The information content of the ads had an impact on subject's attitudes under the low involvement/low credibility condition but not the low involvement/high credibility condition. Under high involvement conditions, the information content of the ad impacted attitudes under both the high and low credibility conditions.

It appears that the ELM may be a useful model for determining when elderly individuals are more likely to be influenced by the information content or the promotional aspects of consumer advertisements for prescription drugs.