Hello Muddah. Hello Faddah.
A new study in the August issue of the Journal of Applied Communication Research (conducted by researchers at the Universities of Pennsylvania and Georgia) shows that direct-to-consumer ads that make mention of family history as a significant risk factor for a disease resonates strongly with their target audiences.
Those who viewed the ads indicated a stronger intent to adopt healthy behaviors as well as a stronger intent to seek the medications that were advertised. The researchers concluded consumers were willing to mix pharmaceutical and behavioral changes to minimize their risks to diseases that could be related to genetics.
The study involved a group of 395 adults who viewed four magazine ads, including three for drugs: Bayer aspirin for heart disease, Vytorin (ezetimibe/simvastatin) for high cholesterol, and Actonel (risedronate sodium) for osteoporosis. The fourth was a "masking" ad for ThermaCare , an over-the-counter product for joint and muscle pain.
All participants who saw the ads with familial risk cues, regardless of the level of family disease history, showed a strong intent to purchase medications. The results also indicated that that the consumers who saw the ads with familial risk cues had stronger intentions to engage in healthy lifestyles than those who did not.
"Exposure to familial risk cues in DTC prescription drug ads enhanced behavioral intentions for both healthy lifestyles and for pharmaceutical choices," the article states.
