An empirical analysis of consumers' attitudes toward optometrist advertising

Optometry students' perspective on optometry in suburban Western India: A qualitative study

PURPOSE

Optometry has been an established profession in India for 60 years. Despite this, students who choose this course may have misconceptions and unrealistic expectations about the profession. The goal of this study is to understand the perceptions about optometry among optometry students, prior to and during their studies.

METHODS

A snap-shot narrative qualitative study using a semi-structured open-ended questionnaire was designed to understand the perception of optometry. Optometry students and educators from three suburban colleges were invited to participate. Forty-one participants took part in 24 in-depth interviews and 5 focus groups; of those 32 were undergraduate optometry students and 9 were optometry educators. Interviews and focus groups were audio-recorded, transcribed, coded, and analyzed.

RESULTS

Three major themes emerged: retrospective perception of optometry, current perception and strategies to improve awareness level. All the participants mentioned that there was a considerable lack of awareness about optometry in society. None of the students stated that they chose optometry as their first choice of professional education. Most students expressed that they were provided with ample exposure during the curriculum to understand the scope of optometry. Various strategies were recommended to improve the level of awareness of optometry.

CONCLUSIONS

The current study highlights the lack of awareness and knowledge of optometry among the students while enrolling in the course. Knowledge about the scope of optometry practice among optometry students improved after extensive education and clinical exposure. Improving the awareness level of the profession will improve the quality of students entering the profession.

Attitudes of dentists and dental patients toward advertising

Twenty years ago, Hite, Bellizzi, and Andrus (1988) examined the attitudes of dentists and consumers toward advertising. This study re-examines those attitudes to see if significant differences still exist. Based on a sample of dentists and consumers, significant differences were found. While attitude of dentists toward advertising is not as negative as it was 20 years ago, their views still tend to lag behind that of consumers. Further, the marketing tools used by dentists today are not consistent with what is seen by consumers and what consumers view as effective. Implications of these findings are discussed.