Influence of presentation modality on communication of pharmaceutical risk information in direct-to-consumer (DTC) television commercials

Direct-to-consumer (DTC) prescription drug advertising markets medications requiring a physician’s script to the general public. In the U.S., DTC prescription drug advertising includes risk disclosures (i.e., side effects and contraindications) in auditory (voice) or both auditory and visual (text) parts of the commercials. Little research has examined the factors that affect the communication of risk disclosures. This research attempted to identify factors that influence recall and recognition of risk disclosures in DTC prescription drug television commercials. The results showed that risk disclosures presented either visually or visually and auditorily increased the likelihood of recall and recognition compared to no presentation. Risk disclosures presented concurrently in visual and auditory modalities produced the highest recall and recognition. The results suggest visual risk disclosures produce better recall and recognition than auditory risk disclosures. Finally, concurrent presentation of non-risk disclosures with risk disclosures produced lower recall and recognition compared to presenting only risk disclosures. Implications for the design of DTC prescription drug television commercials as well as directions for future research are discussed.