Medical advertisements use paid media campaigns to advertise their products to consumers in a process called Direct to Consumer Advertising (DTCA). The pharmaceutical company’s goal is to get consumers interested in prescription drugs to treat their ailments so they go their physician for a prescription, resulting in the sale of the drug. Often, patients may be getting prescriptions for drugs that are costly and may not be necessary to treat minor ailments. For example, Weinmeyer (2013) explains that minor health problems such as an overactive bladder or social anxiety disorder are targeted by advertising campaigns for DTCA drugs, resulting in the sale of medications for conditions that can be treated with alternative methods. Putting product sales above the public’s health is a concern of the medical community.
There are differences between medical products that are advertised and the target markets to which each product is intentionally directed. When taking a look at Direct to Consumer Advertising there are frequent differences between the way pharmaceutical drugs are marketed to specific target audiences. Sumpradit and Bagozzi (2015) point out how consumer stereotypes and depictions affect how people react to the ads based on how emotions are represented in the ads.
‘Mother and Daughter‘ By Namzaric
The company intends to market their product using different emotions in their ads, as a way to draw consumers. (Ball 2018) also mentions how DTCA may cause negative effects on the consumers of distinctive medical products, describing the presence of incomplete or biased information given in such advertisements. Many people see drug advertisements and will figure they need to use drugs, in order to benefit themselves. Some people may end up asking for medications they don’t need, which can lead to worse health problems in the future.
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