UNDERSTANDING HOW ELDERLY PATIENTS PROCESS DRUG INFORMATION - A TEST OF A THEORY OF INFORMATION-PROCESSING

Purpose. The goal of this research was to apply a well-known model of consumer behavior, the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), to ''direct -to-consumer'' advertising of prescription drugs aimed at elderly cons umers. In particular, the specific aim was to determine whether the ef fect of promotional aspects of consumer drug advertising predicted by the ELM could be demonstrated on elderly consumers' product attitudes and perceptions of risk. Methods, Subject reaction to a fictitious dru g advertisement was assessed using a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design based on the theoretical concepts of the ELM. The advertisement message vari ed in the expertise of the product endorser, the expected involvement or interest level of the study subject, and the content of the adverti sement message. Results. Analysis of variance revealed a three-way int eraction effect between involvement, argument quality, and source cred ibility on subjects' attitudes toward the product [F(1, 123) = 4.77, p = 0.03] and perceptions of risk [F(1, 118) = 3.22, p = 0.08]. The inf ormation content of the ads had an impact on subject's attitudes under the low involvement/low credibility condition but not the low involve ment/high credibility condition. Under high involvement conditions, th e information content of the ad impacted attitudes under both the high 1 and low credibility conditions. Conclusions, It appears that the EL M may be a useful model for determining when elderly individuals are m ore likely to be influenced by the information content or the promotio nal aspects of consumer advertisements for prescription drugs.