Health Disparities and Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Advertising: A Content Analysis of Targeted Magazine Genres, 1992–2002

Abstract

Health disparities exist in the United States based on race, gender, and socioeconomic status. One way to alleviate some of the disparities regarding certain diseases or conditions is to increase awareness among populations most affected. Physicians have suggested that direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription drugs could play a role in awareness. Social identity theory suggests that individuals are likely to attend messages if they can identify, often based on race or gender, with people portrayed in the messages. This study analyzed DTCA in 11 years of Black, women's, news, and entertainment magazines to determine whether models in the ads targeted specific populations. Black magazines were more likely to contain ads featuring Black models only than were other genres, which had more DTCA picturing White models only. Health conditions the drugs were intended for varied by genre and over time, with STD drugs appearing primarily in Black magazines, and DTCA for heart disease not published in Black magazines, despite cardiovascular diseases being the No. 1 cause of death for Blacks (and Whites). Women's magazines featured DTCA for a wide variety of drugs, reinforcing their roles as caretakers, with proportionally few ads for women's health. Implications for targeted use of magazine genres as a means of providing health information to specific populations are discussed.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The first two authors contributed equally to this paper.