Pharmaceutical Advertising Research Articles

Pharmaceutical Advertising and Public Perceptions in Saudi Arabia

Introduction: As the pharmaceutical advertising landscape evolves with digital advancements, this study examines public awareness and perceptions of medication advertisements in Saudi Arabia. It focuses on the effects of regulatory frameworks and evaluates how they influence public understanding and attitudes toward these advertisements. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted using an electronic survey in Saudi Arabia in December 2023. The survey was distributed on social media platforms and reached a diverse sample of 440 participants. It covered public perception and attitudes toward drug advertisements, knowledge of regulatory laws, and preferences regarding advertising mediums. Results: Out of the 440 participants in the study, who were primarily employees with bachelor’s degrees, there was a clear awareness of drug advertisements. The average age of the group was 33 years, and a significant portion (71.1%) held a bachelor’s degree, with 51.1% being employed. The findings revealed that 25.5% of participants frequently noticed drug ads, while 22.7% saw them very often. Although many found the ads informative, there were significant concerns about unrealistic expectations and the risk of overmedication; 89.8% believed the ads set unrealistic expectations about the effectiveness of medications. Additionally, 60.7% thought that celebrity endorsements might mislead the audience, and 91.1% felt that ads should provide more detailed information about potential risks and side effects. Regarding preferred advertising platforms, mobile apps and websites were favored (47%), followed closely by social media (46.4%). A striking 93.2% of participants believed that drug ads on social media should be subject to stricter regulations, and 96.4% wanted more proactive monitoring of online advertising. Many also reported using other sources, such as medical review sites, to verify medication information. Conclusions: Pharmaceutical advertising in Saudi Arabia must balance ethical transparency with educational value. The influence of digital platforms underscores the necessity for stricter regulation and accurate information dissemination. A collaborative approach is essential to align advertising practices with public health interests and regulatory standards.

The Role and Impact of Generics in Pharmaceutical Markets

Generics, an essential component of drug manufacturing, represent copies of brand-name drugs whose patents have passed away. This abstract investigates the significance of generics in healthcare, their effect on display movement, regulatory foundations, and healthcare commerce. Generics play an important role in extending the patient approach to affordable cures while supporting contests in pharmaceutical advertising. They offer economical alternatives to brand-name drugs, forceful unhappy healthcare payments, and improving drug devotion. However, concerns concerning quality, security, and productiveness persist, making necessary tight supervisory oversight and bioequivalence experiments to guarantee therapeutic similarity accompanying their brand-name matches. Key stakeholders, including healthcare providers, subjects, insurers, and policymakers, are progressively embracing generics by way of lightening rising healthcare costs and improving healthcare sustainability. Market currents display a growing inclination for generics on account of their lower prices, driving advertise seepage and growing market share. Regulatory instrumentalities general have achieved policies to advance the use of generics, containing expedited authorization pathways, patent expirations, and inducements for general manufacturers. These initiatives aim to promote contests, incentivizes change, and provoke retail entry, eventually enhancing customers and healthcare systems alike. Challenges front the generics manufacturing include protected property created by original thought rights, supply chain disruptions, and supervisory obstacles to market entrance. Additionally, the rise of complex generics, biosimilars, and specialty generics poses singular challenges in conditions of happening, manufacturing, and advertising agreements. In conclusion, generics show a cornerstone of healthcare, contribute inexpensive alternatives to brand-name drugs, and forceful contest and novelty in pharmaceutical advertising. Through cooperation between managers, manufacturers, and healthcare partners, generics manufacturing can continue to develop and bloom, guaranteeing an equitable approach to essential cures and advancing worldwide fitness effects.

Cross-sectional survey of sources of information accompanying veterinary product advertisements in two professional print publications.

Veterinarians should be able to easily access scientific evidence about medical products and devices to incorporate into their clinical decision making. While the characteristics and quality of supporting information accompanying device and pharmaceutical advertisements have been studied in human medicine, little is known about this topic in veterinary medicine. The aim of this study was to characterise the supporting information provided by manufacturers of prescribed products, tests or devices in promotional material found in two commonly read UK-based veterinary publications. Advertisements contained in issues of two veterinary periodicals published between July 2017 and July 2018 were analysed for advertisement and product characteristics and for items of accompanying information. Literature searches were conducted to assess the availability of peer-reviewed sources of information on advertised products. A minority (16%) of the 451 analysed advertisements were accompanied by references to peer-reviewed literature, despite the availability of scientific literature for many of the products advertised. This study sampled two professional publications over a narrow time period. There may be insufficient evidence being provided to veterinary professionals via marketing features; this may limit the accessibility of scientific information for clinical decision making around advertised products.

The Effect of Price Caps on Pharmaceutical Advertising: Evidence from the 340b Drug Pricing Program

The Effect of Price Caps on Pharmaceutical Advertising: Evidence from the 340b Drug Pricing Program

The Effect of Price Caps on Pharmaceutical Advertising: Evidence from the 340b Drug Pricing Program

The Effect of Price Caps on Pharmaceutical Advertising: Evidence from the 340b Drug Pricing Program

Pharmaceutical Market: An Overview

Drug display has a substantial risk in terms of the investigation, occurrence, outcomes, and distribution of drugs generally. It is a dynamic and error-prone aspect of the healthcare production process. An overview of pharmaceuticals is provided in this abstract, with emphasis on their key traits, challenges, and methods.The pharmaceutical industry offers a vast array of brands, including generic drugs, biologics, vaccines, formula drugs, and investments in corporate cures. This is due to the ongoing advancements in science and biological research, as well as the growing demand for realistic scenarios in a range of medical contexts One of the trademarks of pharmaceutical presentations (R&D) is the allure of a significant reliance on testing. It takes a long time, money, and uncertainty to bring a new drug to market. It requires stringent preclinical and objective testing, supervisory permissions, and post-shopping follow-ups to ensure security and efficacy. Patents shield innovations and grant pharmaceutical companies a fenestella of uniqueness that helps them recover their large R&D expenses. However, this industry faces many challenges. Increasing healthcare costs, a rise in regulatory investigations, and pressure from payers and governments on prices have all contributed to a cost curb. In addition, there are still problems with research and development because of the rise in complicated diseases, antibiotic resistance, and the need for integrated healthcare. A shift toward biopharmaceuticals, digital healthcare, and precise therapies are just a few of the noteworthy themes that pharmaceutical advertising has helped to foster recently. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the number of cure cases, revealing the manufacturing industry's susceptibility to pervasive health crises. Drug display is quite competitive, with minor biotech companies and two multinational alliances vying for market share. To expand device portfolios and gain access to new sciences, partnerships, acquisitions, and mergers are the most common approaches

Stereotypical Representations of Gender Roles in Romanian Pharmaceutical Advertising

Stereotypical Representations of Gender Roles in Romanian Pharmaceutical Advertising

"Talk to Your Doctor:" A Rhetorical Analysis of Burkean Identification in Direct-to-Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertisements

"Talk to Your Doctor:" A Rhetorical Analysis of Burkean Identification in Direct-to-Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertisements

Sad Cases and Success Stories: Representations of Multiple Sclerosis in Direct-to-Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertising

This article examines representations of multiple sclerosis in direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertisements televised during 2021 in the United States. Drawing on and developing Cultural Disability Studies theory, it highlights how advertising produced by pharmaceutical companies influences mass understandings, as well as personal experiences of, multiple sclerosis. The application of textual analysis to a small-sample of direct-to-consumer advertisements that promote drug therapies for multiple sclerosis (n. 4) uncovers the prevalence of profit-driven, rather than person-driven, medical neoliberal ideologies. On first impressions, the advertisements appear to challenge the metanarrative of multiple sclerosis as a life-limiting tragedy. However, the research findings reveal that multiple sclerosis is framed as the “hidden enemy” of the American dream, supposedly threatening individuals’ abilities to live productive and meaningful lives, while the consumption of pharmaceutical “wonder” drugs is treated as an act of self-empowerment.

A PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ADVERTISING OF PHARMACEUTICAL PRODUCTS

This publication deals with the psychological aspects of pharmaceutical advertising. The issues underpinning these considerations are presented, and reference is made to the effectiveness of advertising and the validity of its use, particularly in the field of pharmaceutical products. The research results complement the theoretical considerations. They illustrate the specific features of advertising campaigns and the influence of advertising on cognitive processes, i.e., the reception of advertising, emotions arising under its influence and determined consumer behaviour.

Consumer trust and pharmaceutical advertising strategies: physiological responses to ‘Actor Portrayal’ versus ‘Real Patient’ disclaimers

ABSTRACT Americans often learn about important health issues through pharmaceutical advertisements. Unfortunately, public trust in the pharmaceutical industry historically registers at low levels. Therefore, it is important to examine different aspects of commercial elements that may promote or prevent audience trust. This study combines different levels of viewing experience (comparing implicit micro-level behaviours with explicit self-reports) to examine the potential effect of ‘Actor Portrayal’ versus ‘Real Patient’ disclaimers in HPV vaccination advertisements. Key findings show that fixation count on the type of disclaimer significantly predicted perceptions of message credibility. Exposure to specific disclaimers also influenced perceptions of vaccine effectiveness as well as future vaccination intentions. The practical implications of these results are discussed in relation to establishing audience trust and evaluating current industry practices.

Complexity of Data Displays in Prescription Drug Advertisements for Healthcare Providers.

Healthcare providers (HCPs) often encounter clinical trial results in the form of data displays in prescription drug promotions. Information conveyed in data displays vary in their presentation and complexity. This study describes characteristics of data displays in prescription drug advertising targeted to HCPs. This study characterized the content of 140 data displays in 98 unique print advertisements from 2009 to present and identified in AdPharm, an online database of pharmaceutical advertisements. Two reviewers independently coded the advertisements for characteristics (κ = 0.85) including complexity, format, and quality. About one-third (32%) of the advertisements contained multiple data displays (range 2 to 6) and 44% showed clinical data from oncology trials; other disease domains were mental and behavioral health (14%), rheumatology and autoimmune disorders (8%), endocrinology (7%), cardiology (6%), infectious disease (6%), pulmonology and allergy (4%), and others (< 2% each). About one-half (51%) of displays were classified as "simple" which included "pseudographs" and basic tables or charts. "Complex" displays appeared as survival curves, line graphs, or bar graphs with complex features. Most complex displays included a comparator drug (90%), plain language restatement of the key finding (93%) and disclosure statements (91%) with additional study details, although their placement varied. Complex displays were of high quality, according to our selected indicators; our analysis found no data distortion or errors. Data displays in prescription drug advertising are often highly complex. Future research assessing understanding of data displays and the potentially beneficial effect of disclosures and other features is warranted.

Complaints about Violations of Voluntary and Pharmaceutical Industry-Run Medicine Promotion Codes in Canada.

Although regulation of pharmaceutical promotion in Canada is covered under the Food & Drugs Act and Regulations, in practice it is regulated by two codes, one a code administered by the Pharmaceutical Advertising Advisory Board and a second one controlled by Innovative Medicines Canada, the lobby organization for the large majority of the Canadian and foreign-owned pharmaceutical companies operating in Canada. This study examines complaints about code violations between 2012 and 2021 and puts those complaints and their outcomes into the context of the stringency of the codes, their governance, monitoring, penalties for violations, and compliance by companies. It combines the findings from this analysis with international experience with industry-run codes and concludes that overall, the Canadian codes are ineffective in controlling promotion. Finally, it offers recommendations for how regulation can be improved and how doctors' reliance on information from pharmaceutical companies can be reduced.

Gender bias in antidepressant direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising

BackgroundDirect to consumer pharmaceutical advertising (DTCPA) may have significant impacts on public perception of diseases and treatments. Our objective was to examine whether DTCPA for antidepressants disproportionately portray and hence target women in the United States. MethodsDTCPA for branded medications for depression, psoriasis and diabetes were analyzed to determine the gender of the main “patient” portrayed, as well as the content of the disease depiction. ResultsDTCPA for antidepressants included only women in 82% of ads, only men in 10.1% of ads, and both genders in 7.8% of ads. There were significantly higher representations of women versus men in DTCPA for antidepressants (82%) compared to either psoriasis (50.4%) or diabetes (37.6%) medications. These differences remained statistically significant even after adjusting for gender disparities in disease prevalence. ConclusionsAntidepressant DTCPA in the United States disproportionately target women. There are potential adverse consequences for both women and men resulting from unequal representations in DTCPA for antidepressant medications.

Fighting for Psychotherapy by Psychiatrists: Join Us!

Fighting for Psychotherapy by Psychiatrists: Join Us!

Systematic assessment of opioid advertisements in general medical journals.

To systematically examine the content of opioid-related advertisements. Content analysis and quantitative assessment. North America. Researchers examined advertisements in 2 issues per year from 1996 to 2016 of American Family Physician, Canadian Family Physician, the Canadian Medical Association Journal, JAMA, and the New England Journal of Medicine. Number of advertisements, nature of the claims made, and quality of cited evidence in the advertisements. Opioid advertisements composed 89 of the 3173 pharmaceutical advertisements in 210 journal issues searched. Seventy-three advertisements were able to be obtained for analysis. Thirty-four (46.6%) did not mention the addictive potential of opioids, and 54 of 73 (74.0%) did not mention the possibility of death. All referenced studies in advertisements were funded by pharmaceutical organizations or had pharmaceutical company employees as authors. No advertisements cited high-quality evidence. Many claims of the effectiveness and safety of opioids were published in medical journals through advertisements. Advertisements did not usually mention key negative information about opioids. Although the extent to which these advertisements directly influenced the development of the opioid crisis in North America is unknown, the marked omission of important detrimental effects of opioids may have played a role. Further efforts to restrict opioid marketing may be warranted.

The Role of Information in Pharmaceutical Advertising: Theory and Evidence

The Role of Information in Pharmaceutical Advertising: Theory and Evidence

Views and Perceptions of Medical Representatives and Physicians about the Role of Medical Representatives and Pharmaceutical Advertisement in Saudi Arabia – A Pilot Study

ABSTRACT Objective: Medical representatives (MRs) frequently interact with physicians who may have different perceptions about and expectations from product promotional activities by pharmaceutical companies, especially through MRs. This can affect their prescribing practice. We explored the views and perceptions of MRs and physicians about the role of MRs and pharmaceutical advertisements in Saudi Arabia. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted virtually through the ZOOM application with five MRs and five physicians from July to October 2022. The participants were recruited from the Makkah region in Saudi Arabia on a convenience sampling basis and through the snowballing method. The interviews were recorded with the consent of the participants, transcribed verbatim, and thematically analyzed. Findings: Data saturation was found to be achieved with four interviews from each group of participants. Thematic analysis generated 338 codes which were categorized into 31 subthemes. These subthemes were further categorized into 11 overarching themes: “MR daily work,” “Role of MRs in healthcare and their future,” “Value of MRs in healthcare,” “Pros and cons of the MR career,” “MRs in the COVID-19 pandemic,” “Differences between the pharmaceutical companies,” “Goods and not-so-goods about the MRs,” “Suggestions provided by physicians for MRs and pharmaceutical companies,” “Marketing strategies of different pharmaceutical companies,” “Experience of MRs” and “Support provided by pharmaceutical companies.” Conclusion: Our pilot study sheds light on the role of MRs and pharmaceutical advertisement from MRs’ and physicians perspectives. Several recommendations can be drawn from our findings to make the interactions between MRs and physicians more effective and improve pharmaceutical advertisement, prescribing practices, and patient care.

Does price disclosure in pharmaceutical advertising result in price transparency? Evidence from a randomized experiment

BackgroundPolicies that mandate list price disclosure in direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising (DTCPA) cite price transparency among the benefits. The expectation is that price transparency will lead to changes in consumer behavior that will ultimately lower healthcare costs. ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to assess the impact of price transparency on perceived level of information and consumer behaviors, specifically intentions to seek treatment and intentions to comparison shop. MethodsA nine-arm randomized experiment was conducted to expose respondents to television advertisements for prescription drugs that varied by price disclosure type (no price/control, list price only, or price plus, which disclosed the list price and typical out-of-pocket cost) and indicated condition (deep vein thrombosis/pulmonary embolism [DVT/PE], diabetes, or rheumatoid arthritis [RA]). The sample was recruited from US adult members of the nationally representative Amerispeak online panel. ResultsThe sample included 2138 respondents. For ads featuring prescription drugs for DVT/PE, findings provide no evidence of an impact from price disclosure on perception of sufficient information. For ads for prescription drugs for diabetes, there was no evidence of an impact from list price only, but the price plus group was more likely than the control group to report the ad provided sufficient information (OR = 2.475). For ads for RA prescription drugs, both the list price only group (OR = 3.380) and price plus group (OR = 2.720) were more likely to report sufficient information than the control. Findings provide no evidence of an impact from price disclosure on consumer behaviors (i.e., intention to seek treatment or intention to comparison shop). ConclusionsMandatory DTCPA list price disclosure may not be the most effective tool for improving price transparency and affecting consumer behavior.

Impact of direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertisement on the buying behavior of over-the-counter drugs in Cabanatuan city, Nueva Ecija

Direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertisements have slowly made its way as the main medium of endorsements for over-the-counter drugs in the Philippines. Over the years, the consumer's level of understanding regarding over-the-counter drugs and self-medication possesses a gap that has caused misuse and abuse of over-the-counter drugs. This study was designed to determine the impact of direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertisement on the buying behavior of consumers on over-the-counter drugs within Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija. An analytical-observational quantitative study will be conducted using a self-made questionnaire on a sample of 384 individuals selected using a non-probability purposive sampling design. Statistical treatments are addressed using descriptive statistics with frequency and percentage distributions to ascertain the respondents' sociodemographic characteristics. The second objective addressed uses weighted mean and standard deviation to ascertain the consumer's level of understanding regarding over-the-counter drugs. The correlation will be employed using Pearson's Correlation. The chi-square test will be utilized to determine any associations between the underlying causes of OTC medication misuse and abuse and the utilization of DTCA in OTC drug advertising