The effects of advertising skepticism in consumer prescription drug advertising

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of consumers’ prescription drug advertising (DTCA) skepticism on their advertising evaluation. In addition, the study investigates the moderating role of health risk information location in DTCA and the mediating role of perceived message effectiveness to address when and how the skepticism effects are maximized or minimized. Design/methodology/approach The study used a controlled lab experiment to enhance internal validity. Findings This study found that when risk information was presented earlier in a more prominent manner, it appeared to reduce the DTCA skepticism effects. In contrast, the DTCA skepticism effects remained considerable when benefit information was presented earlier. Research limitations/implications The artificial nature of the controlled lab setting suggests conducting future research in a more natural setting using various therapeutic and product categories to enhance ecological and external validity. Practical implications Pharmaceutical marketers could reduce consumers’ DTCA skepticism effects on their advertising evaluation by using situational message strategies. The prominence of health risk disclosure could be one of such strategies. Social implications The FDA’s industry guidance for DTCA risk communication suggests that the location of risk information in the ad may play an important role in determining its prominence. However, little is known about how complying with the FDA’s risk communication guidance by presenting a more prominent risk disclosure can affect consumers’ ad evaluation by affecting the DTCA skepticism effects. The current study provides empirical evidence for the importance of the health risk disclosure prominence. Originality/value Because the FDA’s release of the DTCA risk communication guidance, little empirical research has been conducted to examine a wide range of situational message factors that may affect consumers’ response to DTCA risk communication. The current study filled the gap in the literature by addressing the interplay between consumer and message factors in the DTCA context.