RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Research on the major risk statement in direct-to-consumer (DTC) prescription drug television ads has shown that risk severity and actionability can affect consumers' risk comprehension and perceptions. A framing statement presented just before the major risk statement may serve as a cue that directs attention to the risk statement that follows, or it may guide consumers' interpretation of the severity of the risks that follow. OBJECTIVE: Examine how the use of different framing statements (severe, life-threatening; serious; or basic) that precede the major risk statement in DTC television ads affect consumers' risk perceptions, risk recognition, benefit perceptions, interest in the drug, and other relevant outcomes. METHODS: An online experiment was conducted using a 1 × 3 between-subjects design to compare three different framing statements, which was replicated across three different DTC television ads that focused on different medical conditions (arthritis, lung cancer, and type 2 diabetes). A sample of US adults (N = 1961) was randomly assigned to view one of nine television ads and asked to respond to a questionnaire. RESULTS: The type of framing statement had significant effects on perceived risk severity, perceived utility of risk and benefit information, fear of risks, and perceived likelihood of explicit and implicit benefits. CONCLUSIONS: Consumers pay attention to and use cues to process and interpret the risk information presented to them in DTC television ads. Using lead-in language that describes risk severity, particularly for products with severe, life-threatening risks, may better allow consumers to make evaluative judgments on risk severity in DTC ads than stating the drug can cause serious reactions or simply that reactions are possible. More work is needed to examine the factors that affect people's understanding of the nature of risk severity, particularly with regard to risk recognition.