| The purpose of the investigation was to examine relationships between television direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription drugs and consumers' acceptance, perception, and behavior. The objectives of this study were to: (1) Identify consumers' perceived preferences in the messages for DTCA as they relate to "reminder," "help-seeking," and "product claim" television ads. (2) Explore the relationship between dollars spent on DTCA for prescription medication and the resulting responses on consumer behavior to the advertised product. (3) Examine DTCA prescription medication influence on consumer's tendency to seek more information about the medication or the medical condition. (4) Examine whether consumers perceive that the television DTCA of prescription medication is beneficial.; The design for this research was based on a one-group, after-only procedure. The sample used in the study was a purposive sample of 478 US residents with e-mail addresses from AOL, Road Runner, Yahoo, Hotmail, and MSN. The survey instrument consisted of 68 items and included forms of dichotomous variables, multiple-choice selections, closed and open-ended questions, and two Likert-type scales. Inferential tests, frequency counts, percentages, and descriptive analyses were used to analyze the data. |
