Factors predicting consumers' drug inquiry intention after exposure to a prescription drug advertisement: An exploratory analysis

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

2015

Abstract

Objective: Advertising campaigns could be better designed to target specific behavioral responses by identifying factors that significantly affect a consumer's response to a direct-to-consumer (DTC) prescription drug advertisement in terms of drug inquiry intention and whether this affects a true behavioral measure (i.e., the actual act of behavior). Therefore, this study examined the following research questions: (1) Which of the following effectiveness measures previously identified in the DTC literature (attitude toward the ad, brand, company, message source, and DTC ad in general as well as attention paid to the ad, pharmaceutical industry credibility, disease state involvement, and perceived product risk) significantly predict consumers' intentions to discuss the medication with their physician (drug inquiry intention)? and (2) Which of the significant predictors of consumers' drug inquiry intention, if any, affect the predefined information search behavior? Methods: In a randomized post-test only survey design, data for 409 U.S. adults were obtained using Qualtrics online survey panel. Using the questionnaire, consumers' responses were recorded for traditional DTC advertising effectiveness measures. Data were analyzed using multiple linear regression and χ2 analysis techniques. Results: As indicated by the multiple regression (F = 63.61; P <0.001), except for consumers' attitude toward the message source and attitude toward the pharmaceutical company advertising the drug, all other variables were the significant predictors of consumers' drug inquiry intention. Except for attitude toward the message source and attitude toward the pharmaceutical company advertising the product, χ2 tests indicated that all other variables had a significant influence (all P <0.001) on consumers' likelihood to look for more information to learn more about the disease. Conclusion: Consumer response to DTC advertising can be predicted by a multitude of factors. Pharmaceutical marketers must be aware of this plurality when designing advertising messages.

Publication Title

Journal of the American Pharmacists Association

Volume

55

Issue

2

First Page

e193

Comments

Conference abstract published in Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, Volume 55, Issue 2, Pages e193.

Presented at AphA2015, March 2015, San Diego, CA.

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