Enhancing the perceived readability of pharmaceutical container labels and warnings: The use of alternative designs and pictorials

Shari Pucci Department of Psychology Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY 12180-3590 Bernadette M. Racicot Department of Psychology Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY 12180-3590 The appropriate use of pharmaceuticals, as well as their hazards, are not commonly known to most people. In fact, the only information available to consumers is usually the material found on the product label. Unfortunately, for some consumers this method of communicating instructions and risks may be ineffective, and potentially dangerous. People may have difficulty with the labels because the print on the label is too small for them to read. Two alternative (tag and fold-out) designs were developed to increase the available surface area for information printed on a fictitious prescription drug label. The alternative label designs were compared to a standard controllahel. The presence versus the absence of pictorials visually depicting several instructions and warnings was also examined. Participants rated the labels on ease of reading the labels, likelihood of noticing the warnings, likelihood of reading the warnings, preference for each of the labels, and likelihood that they would recommend each label for use by a friend or family member. The results showed that participants (n = 84) preferred the alternative label designs, especially the tag labels, and those with illustrative pictorials. Implications of these results and recommendations for future research in this area are discussed.