This study is rooted in the research traditions of cultivation theory, construct accessibility, and availability heuristic. Based on a survey with 221 subjects, this study finds that familiarity with direct-to-consumer (DTC) print advertisements for antidepressant brands is associated with inflated perceptions of the prevalence and lifetime risk of depression. The study concludes that DTC adver...

Direct to consumer (DTC) prescription drug advertising is one of the fastest growing categories of advertising. Expenditures have increased from about $25 million in 1992 to nearly $2 billion in 1999. Given strong evidence of consumer-driven demand for advertised prescription drugs, research was conducted to assess the extent to which DTC prescription drug advertising provides consumers with th...

Direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising of suspect goods and services has burgeoned because of the Internet. Despite very limited approval for use, DTC stem cell-marketed "treatments" have emerged for an array of conditions, creating global public health and safety risks. However, it remains unclear whether such use of stem cells is subject to drugs or biologics regulations. To address this gap, r...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Direct-to-consumer (DTC) marketing of pharmaceuticals is controversial, yet effective. Little is known relating patterns of medication use to patient responsiveness to DTC. METHODS: We conducted a secondary analysis of data collected in national telephone survey on knowledge of and attitudes toward DTC advertisements. The survey of 1081 U.S. adults (response rate = 65%) w...

despite increased availability of online promotional tools for prescription drug marketers, evidence on online prescription drug promotion is far from settled or conclusive. we highlight ways in which online prescription drug promotion is similar to conventional broadcast and print advertising and ways in which it differs. we also highlight five key areas for future research: branded drug websi...

DIRECT-TO-CONSUMER(DTC)ADVERTISING OF PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS has rapidly become one of the most contentious issues facing the medical profession in the United States. Prior to the early 1980s, pharmaceutical companies promoted their prescription products exclusively to physicians, who were expected to act as “learned intermediaries” interpreting drug information for the general public. During...

The direct-to-consumer (DTC) medical industry (i.e., medical testing and treatment outside of physician oversight) is growing rapidly as the Internet becomes more accessible globally. As several studies have highlighted, this industry offers unproven medical testing, provides testing for unapproved indications, and uses suspect advertising claims (1–5 ). Furthermore, given the prevalence of ill...

The growth in direct-to-consumer advertising(DTCA)over the past two decades has facilitated the communication of prescription drug information directly to consumers. Data from a 1999 national survey are employed to determine the factors influencing consumers' opinions of the utility of DTC ads for health care decision making. We also analyze whether consumers use DTC ad information in health ca...

References 1 Auton F. The advertising of pharmaceuticals direct to consumers: a critical review of the literature and debate. Int J Adver 2004; 23: 1–5. 2 Hone F, Benson R. DTC: European style. Pharm Exec 2004; 24: 96–102. 3 Kravitz RL, Epstein RM, Feldman MD, et al. Infl uence of patients’ requests for direct-to-consumer advertised antidepressants: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA 2005; 293...

Since a 1997 regulatory shift on the part of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), there has been an explosion of televised direct-to-consumer (DTC) pharmaceutical advertising in the United States. The introduction and growth of this form of advertising, as well as other recent evolutions in the health care arena, have altered relationships among key countervailing powers in the health car...