“Health-media literacy” for the elderly: A symbolic interactionist analysis of how older persons perceive prescription drug ads

This study explored the way in which older women perceived and interpreted direct-to-consumer printed and televised prescription drug advertisements. Twenty-five qualitative in-depth interviews with older women ages 65-90 were conducted, with access provided through four community organizations in Pennsylvania and Delaware. The study applied the theoretical framework of symbolic interactionism to address four research questions: 1) How do elderly persons perceive, interpret and use health information in drug advertisements? 2) How do they perceive the texts and images in printed drug advertisements? 3) How do they perceive the texts and images in televised drug advertisements? 4) To what extent are elderly persons aware of symbolic media marketing tactics in drug advertisements and how do they interpret them? The twenty-five in-depth interviews with women ages 65-90 were transcribed, coded and analyzed using standard qualitative methods. The analysis revealed the participants' symbolic understanding of the drug ads, the consequences of their interpretations of health information in these ads, and the degree to which they viewed marketing in the ads as a positive or negative consequence of the ads. This study addresses key findings in relation to previous research and offers recommendations for future research related to direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising and the aging mass media consumer, at a time of rising ad expenditures by drug companies in the United States.