Health-related messages in consumer magazine advertising.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To characterize the patterns of health-related messages in consumer advertising from U.S. magazines. DESIGN: Observational survey of advertisements occupying a third of a page or more from the January 1994 issues of the 11 most popular consumer magazines. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Health messages were present in 22.8% (85/372) of all the advertisements reviewed. Of the advertisement categories (prescription medication, over-the-counter medication, exercise-related product, health service, health device, diet/health-related food, and other), over-the-counter medications were the most common among the advertisements that had health messages (32.9%, 28/85) (7.5% of the total advertisements, 28/372). The five advertisements for prescription medications were duplications of two different advertisements, one for a hair promotion product and one for hormone replacement therapy. Products related to diet and exercise together represented 29.4% (25/85) of all advertisements with health messages. Three advertisements (3.5%) were for health devices, and five (5.9%) were for health services. CONCLUSIONS: Health-related messages are frequent in consumer advertising. The effects of health marketing on consumer protection, health care costs, and the physician-patient relationship are discussed.