Lifestyles are risky, too

The social construction of risk and empowerment in prescription drug direct-to-consumer advertisements

Bibliographic Data

ID21148823
AuthorsCrystal Adams (0000-0002-4982-5500, Muhlenberg College, corresponding author), Brittany M Harder (Department of History, Sociology, Geography and Legal Studies, The University of Tampa, Tampa, FL, USA)
Year2019
Volume21
Issue1-2
Pages17-34
Publication date2019-02-17
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueHealth Risk & Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1369-8575 • E-ISSN: 1469-8331
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13698575.2019.1601684
OpenAlexW2936314497
LanguageEN
References cited61

In this article, we examine the portrayal of non-drug related health risks and patient empowerment messages in prescription drug advertising. Little is known about the social construction of non-drug related risks in direct-to-consumer advertisements. In addition, research has failed to investigate to what extent, and how, prescription drug ads use risk messages to construct understandings of empowered medicated patients. To fill these gaps in research, we conducted a content analysis of 136 US prescription drug advertisements that aired on television from 2014–2015. Drawing on the reflexive modernisation framework, we find that ads go beyond disclosing the risks associated with taking the promoted drug by emphasising the risks associated with not taking the prescribed drug. Ads empower patients in two distinct ways, through ‘health empowerment’ and ‘lifestyle empowerment’. These forms of empowerment are portrayed as natural responses to health and lifestyle risks. We also describe two types of ads: medical need and lifestyle ads. The former emphasises health empowerment, and the latter exhibits strong themes of lifestyle empowerment. We extend the findings of previous research by pinpointing how drug companies use risk messages as a strategy to motivate, rather than deter, audiences to learn more about a promoted treatment and by identifying the different marketing strategies used in prescription drug ads based on the lifestyle status of a drug. Our research provides a clearer understanding of the relationship between the presentation of health risks and reflexive modernisation, patient empowerment, and health lifestyles in the risk society

Advertising · Business · Direct-to-consumer advertising · Drug · Empowerment · Medical prescription · Political science · Prescription drug · Psychiatry · Public health · Historical and Scientific Studies · Management and Organizational Studies · Medicine · Pharmaceutical industry and healthcare · Psychology · Pharmacology

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