文档介绍：标题:Direct-to-consumer Prescription Drug Advertising: a Study of Consumer Attitudes and Behavioral Intentions
原文:
Introduction
In order to increase brand awareness for prescription medication, drug manufacturers spent $ billion on promotions in 2001, of which $ billion went to mass media advertising. Prescription drug advertising, often referred to as direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising, has increased at an annual rate of 13-20 percent since 1997. Thus far, there have been mixed findings regarding the overall financial impact of DTC advertising on the pharmaceutical industry. While there is some evidence that suggests a direct and positive correlation between mass media advertising and drug manufacturers’ earnings (Findlay, 2002; Anderson, 2003), the relationship between adverting expenditures and the ess of specific brands is not clear. Clearly, drug manufacturers place a great deal of faith in DTC ads and the impact that they can have on consumers’ decision to adopt advertised brands, but the exact nature of that impact remains controversial. While a recent study reports that for every 10 percent increase in DTC advertising, there is a 1 percent increase in drug sales (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2003), there is also evidence that DTC advertising often serves to increase the size of a market for a specific class of drugs, but not necessarily the market share for a particular brand (Krisanits, 2003).
Researchers have examined DTC advertising from various viewpoints. Some have focused on the governmental rulings that have paved the way for DTC advertising (Dukes et al., 2001) and the case law that deals with drug manufacturers’ responsibility to warn consumers about the side effects of prescription medication. Other researchers have recently addressed the efficacy of DTC advertising as an educational tool. While some claim that there is “little rationale for direct-to- consumer advertising of prescription drugs”(Lexchin andMintzes, 2002, p. 194), others sug