Consumer responses towards non-prescription and prescription drug advertising in the US and Germany

AbstractPharmaceutical advertising has generated considerable interest among both researchers and practitioners. This paper analyses overall attitude and scepticism towards both nonprescription and prescription drug advertising, and compares it to attitude and skepticism towards advertising in general, in a cross-cultural setting. The relationship between the cultural dimension of humankind’s relationship to nature and the evaluation of pharmaceutical advertising is explored. A survey of 788 respondents from the US and Germany was conducted. Data revealed that while consumers have less favourable attitudes towards advertising for pharmaceutical products than towards advertising in general, consumers tend to be less sceptical of it (i.e. they believe it more, as compared to advertising in general). Regarding advertising for non-prescription vs prescription medications, consumers have less favourable attitudes towards prescription drug messages than towards non-prescription drug messages, but, contrary to expectations, no significant differences were found with regard to levels of scepticism towards the two types of drug advertising. The cultural dimension of humankind’s relationship to nature (dominance over nature) proved to be related to the evaluation of pharmaceutical advertising, though the relationship was relatively weak. A tendency to dominate nature is related to a more positive attitude and lower levels of scepticism towards pharmaceutical advertising. Regarding cultural differences, US consumers have a more positive attitude towards, and are less sceptical of, advertising in general, and of advertising for prescription and nonprescription drugs, in particular, than are German consumers. Implications for consumer protection policies and for advertisers are discussed. Limitations of the study and directions for future research are addressed. Additional informationNotes on contributorsSandra DiehlSandra Diehl, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Marketing, Saarland University, Germany. Her main research interests are international advertising,media management, electronic commerce and consumer behaviour.Barbara MuellerBarbara Mueller, PhD, is Professor of Advertising, School of Communication, San Diego State University, California, US. Her main research fields include international advertising, marketing and advertising to children, ethnic marketing, and healthcare advertising.Ralf TerlutterRalf Terlutter, PhD, is Professor of Marketing and International Management, University of Klagenfurt, Austria. His main research fields include international media and communication management and consumer behaviour.