Abstract
The authors evaluated fair balance in the presentation of risks and benefits in a large sample of direct-to-consumer advertising for prescription antidepressant medications appearing in magazines (1995-2006) and television (1999-2007) to assess how well they meet U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines. Using content analysis to capture relevant dimensions of the ads, results indicated that (a) considerably less attention is given to risks relative to benefits and (b) implicit ad content favors communication of drug benefits over risks, but that fair balance in direct-to-consumer ads has improved over time. The authors discuss policy implications and explore future research directions.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 250-277 |
Number of pages | 28 |
Journal | Journal of health communication |
Volume | 17 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 1 2012 |
Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Health(social science)
- Communication
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
- Library and Information Sciences