An Evaluation of Cues, Inducements, and Readability of Information on Drug-Specific Web Sites

ABSTRACTA growing number of consumers are seeking information about medication therapies from drug-specific Web sites. Evidence suggests that visual cues on such sites may influence behavior; thus, it is important to identify the manner in which such cues are framed. The objectives of this study were to: (1) assess the use of models (persons) as visual cues in drug-specific Web sites, categorize them demographically, and determine any identity or relational reward they connote, (2) identify the frequency and types of inducements offered to consumers visiting the sites, (3) describe the framing of messages within tag lines comprising the Web sites' home pages, (4) determine the readability of “safety information” components of the drug Web sites' home pages. A total of 113 Web sites from among the top 200 drugs of 2004 were randomly assigned to 3 of 15 trained judges working independently in a content analysis procedure. Descriptive statistics were tabulated. Results showed that most Web sites make use of ...