Government regulation and the believability of prescription drug advertising. An application of attribution theory and test of symbolic impact

Prescription drug advertising trends: a study of oral hypoglycemics

A content analysis of oral hypoglycemic drug advertisements was performed in selected medical journals published in the United States from 1963 to 1986. The 665 advertisements subsequently examined were studied for certain predetermined parameters in order to indicate trends. The trend results may be summarized as follows. As an extension of prescription drug advertising trends in general, oral hypoglycemic drug advertising showed an increasing length along with a subsequent decrease in the amount of space devoted to the copy portion of the advertisement. They also showed a decrease in the use of statistical information and rarely made references to competitors. Nongender specific, colored advertisements with product and use related appeals have become more common with the passage of time. Although the rationale and purpose behind advertising is unchanged, the format has changed considerably. These changes are primarily due to the enhancement of print technology and to some extent, the changing social environment.

Marketing 'mind mechanics': decoding antidepressant drug advertisements

Advertisers have adopted the use of highly abstract visual metaphors and symbols in addressing physicians about antidepressant drugs. Campaigns built around an abstract visual aesthetics are designed to generate cognitive connections between named drug entities and the meaning of abstract visual images: these connections are called 'carry-over symbols'. In this study we critically dismantle and analyze the encoding practices used in two recent ad campaigns for antidepressants. In addition to asking what the ads mean, we ask how they mean it. This analysis is joined to a comparison of the information provided by these ads with the pharmacological and therapeutic properties of the drugs themselves. Our analysis suggests this style of drug advertising produces, as a social side-effect, a reified and medicalized account of psychiatric illness (depression). It also poses an obstacle to scientific discourse and understanding; privileges certain types of social knowledge concerning mental illness, psychiatric patients, and drug taking; and discourages professional d debate regarding therapeutic approaches to treating illness. These ads reflect a positivistic conceptualization of mental illness and doctoring as mind mechanics.

Prescription drug advertising: medical journal practices under different types of control

Medication is one important aspect of health care delivery. The sources of information used to select appropriate medication include drug advertisements which appear in professional journals. There is a need to monitor the quality of these advertisements. The study reported in this paper includes a longitudinal (1961 to 1977) and cross-societal (Britain, United States and Australia) content analysis of drug advertisements. Such a comparison contributes to the debate concerning the type of regulation likely to be effective for this form of advertising.