RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Character-space-limited (CSL) communications (e.g., tweets) present a challenge for maintaining fair balance between risks and benefits in direct-to-consumer prescription drug promotion. Current FDA guidance advises incorporating risk information within the CSL communication. Because space is limited, others suggest only linking to risk information. OBJECTIVES: The primary objectives were to examine the effects of (1) including substantive risk information in CSL communications versus only providing a link to risk information and (2) including risks and benefits versus only risks on the linked landing page. METHODS: Four experimental studies (N = 469 per study) were conducted. Participants self-reported migraine (Studies 1 and 2) or being overweight (Studies 3 and 4). Participants were instructed to either browse or search a mock Google (Studies 1 and 3) or Twitter (Studies 2 and 4) search page that included the study CSL communication. The CSL communication either did or did not include risk information, and its linked landing page either did or did not include benefit information. Half the participants used a mobile device and half used a desktop/laptop. Participants viewed the search page once without prompting to pay attention to the CSL communication and a second time with prompting. RESULTS: Including the risk in the CSL communication increased the likelihood that participants would recognize the risk after the first viewing (three studies) and second viewing (four studies). However, after the second viewing, including the risk decreased the likelihood that participants would click the landing-page link (three studies), and decreased the number of landing-page-only risks recognized (three studies). Including the drug's benefit on the landing page increased benefit recognition (four studies) without negatively affecting risk recognition or risk perceptions (three studies). CONCLUSIONS: The results provide a first look at the tradeoffs for consumer understanding of drug risks and benefits when drugs are promoted in CSL communications.
Assuntos
Medicamentos sob Prescrição , Humanos , ComunicaçãoRESUMO
To fulfill a key regulation pertaining to prescription drug broadcast advertising, a common practice is to present the major risks along with "adequate provision" referencing several sources where audiences can obtain the full product labeling. In recent years, questions have arisen about the unique value of the various sources of adequate provision and even whether sponsor webpages alone may sufficiently convey product labeling information. Cognizant of the sizable offline population, the present research investigates questions of access, ability, likelihood, willingness, and preference among a nationally representative sample of low- and non-Internet users who may wish to access the product labeling.
Assuntos
Medicamentos sob Prescrição , Publicidade , HumanosRESUMO
Hornik and Woolf (1999) proposed using cross-sectional survey data to prioritize beliefs to address with communication campaign messages. The empirical component of the approach combines evidence of (1) association of beliefs with intentions and (2) current level of beliefs to calculate a 'percentage to gain' as the potential promise of a belief. However, the method relies on cross-sectional data; its conclusions are open to challenge. Here, a panel study assesses whether the calculated promise of a belief actually predicts future behavior change. A nationally representative sample of 3,204 U.S. youth and young adults were interviewed twice, six months apart. Sixteen beliefs about the benefits and costs of smoking cigarettes are compared with regard to their percentage to gain (calculated from cross-sectional data) and their ability to account for subsequent cigarette use. A belief's cross-sectional percentage to gain is substantially associated with its ability to predict subsequent behavior change (r=.53, p<.05).
