Attitudes towards DTC advertising in Australia: an exploratory study

In Australia direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising of prescription medicines is currently not permitted. Despite a government report that did not recommend a change, pharmaceutical companies have continued a campaign for the ban to be lifted, resulting in strong opposition by doctors and consumer groups. This exploratory study aims to discover the attitudes of a sample of Australians towards the advertising of prescription medicines before any possible (or probable) changes takes place. A survey of 619 people was undertaken and four factors were discovered: (I) information; (II) quality; (III) credibility; and (IV) price. Comparisons were also made to determine whether there were any differences in attitudes based on gender or age. From these results some issues relating to DTC advertising will be discussed.