Pharmaceutical container labels and warnings: Preference and perceived readability of alternative designs and pictorials

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 at the time of consumption is usually the material found on the product label. Unfortunately, people often 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 on a fictitious prescription drug label. The alternative label designs, with and without pictorials depicting instructions and warnings, were compared to a standard control label. In Expt. 1, 84 undergraduates rated the labels on several preference dimensions, including: 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. Across all dimensions, undergraduates preferred the alternative labels, especially the tag labels, and labels with pictorials. In Expt. 2, the ratings of 58 older adults (mean age = 73 years) showed a similar pattern of results. Implications of these results and recommendations for future research in this area are discussed. Relevance to industry Drug manufacturers should incorporate these findings into the design of pharmaceutical labels to make them more attention-getting, readable, and preferred, especially to older adults and persons with poor vision or reading skills. These results may also help health care professionals and their patients by reducing the potential for errors. Finally, these findings could be useful in the redesign of labels for other kinds of products and equipment.