Popularity trumps efficacy in consumer adverts, study finds

Research funded by the US Food and Drug Administration suggests that people who view drug adverts are more likely to respond to a claim about a product’s popularity than its efficacy.

The study, published in the journal Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy, finds that: “Consumers’ decision making about prescription drugs may be influenced by more than thoughts about drug efficacy and the potential for side effects.”

In the study, participants were more likely to select a product with the claim “#1 Prescribed,” even when the alternative was claimed to have greater efficacy. To be preferred, a drug without the claim needed superior efficacy of at least 1.23%.