Antidepressant direct-to-consumer advertising and social perception of the prevalence of depression: application of the availability heuristic.
This study examined the effect of antidepressant direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) on perceived prevalence of depression. A survey of Midwestern residents showed that those with high recall for antidepressant DTCA tended to estimate the prevalence of depression higher than those with low ad recall. However, with a source-priming cue before their estimation, the significant association was eliminated. Results indicate that people use antidepressant DTCA as a basis for their judgment of the prevalence of depression in normal situations where the veracity of information is not highlighted.
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Soontae
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A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA. soontae@ksu.edu
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000329:Advertising / Q000592:standards; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000145:classification / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003071:Cognition; D003258:Consumer Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003625:Data Collection; D003863:Depression / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004345:Drug Industry / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D015146:Midwestern United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D004366:Nonprescription Drugs; D055553:Prescription Drugs; D015995:Prevalence; D055815:Young Adult
D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D004366:Nonprescription Drugs; D055553:Prescription Drugs