Investigation of Issues Related to Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) Advertising

DRAFT – 12/03/10

Moderator’s Guide

DTC: Responding to New Technologies

Focus Group preparation notes:

Objective and Task

Objective: To explore consumers’ health information-seeking attitudes and behaviors in different generations as they relate to DTC advertising in traditional and new media.

Task Purpose: To conduct qualitative testing with young adult (aged 18-25), established adult (aged 25-40), middle-aged adult (aged 40-70), and older adult (aged 71+) consumers to explore the ways in which they currently receive and seek out information about their health, including the technologies on which they see DTC advertising of prescription drugs.

Data Collection

Setting: Sixteen (8 high education, 8 low education) in-person focus groups divided into four age groups will take place in focus group facilities in the metropolitan Washington, DC area as well as other cities across the country to be determined. Focus groups will last approximately 90 minutes. A trained moderator will lead the discussion. Interviews will be audio taped and transcribed.

Consenting: Written consent will be obtained from each participant at the beginning of each focus group.

Process: The focus group will comprise the following steps.

1. Welcome:

   1. Informed consent—facility personnel will briefly review the consent form and obtain each participant’s written consent.

2. Welcome—the moderator will thank the participants for taking the time to participate and explain further the purpose of the focus group.

3. Warm-Up—the moderator will establish some ground rules and ask participant a few questions about their current medication use.

2. Focus Group Discussion. The moderator will use examples of print, television, and internet DTC advertising to engage participants in the current topic and to spark discussion.

3. Closing. The moderator will summarize the findings with the participant and ask for final thoughts.

Stimuli needed for this group:

• NyQuil print ad

• Toviaz print ad

• Tylenol TV ad

• Orencia TV ad

Informed Consent Procedure

[Give participant informed consent form.] Here are two copies of an informed consent form. Please take a moment to review it and if you agree to it, please sign one copy. The other copy is for you to keep for your records. It contains a telephone number you can call if you have any questions after our interview is over.

• The consent form states that you agreed to participate in a group discussion about patient prescription drug information.

• Your identity and anything you personally say here will remain confidential to the extent allowed by law. Your name, address, and phone number will not be given to anyone, and no one will contact you after this group discussion is completed. When I write my report, I will not refer to you by name. We will look at the results of the discussions as a group, not individually.

• Your decision to take part in this research study is completely voluntary. You can refuse to answer any question during the study and you can stop participating at any time. If you decide to participate and later change your mind, you will not be contacted again or asked for further information.

• Most importantly, there are no right or wrong answers. We want to know your opinions and what you think about the materials.

• I would like to audio record our group to ensure accuracy. I am going to take notes during our conversation, but I would like to go back and review our discussion to make sure that I have everything correct. Do I have your permission to audio record our discussion today?

• Finally, do you have any questions before we begin?

WELCOME

Thank you for taking the time to join us today. Your participation is very important. I am _______ from Harvrey Marketing/ICF Macro, a marketing research organization. The purpose of this group is to talk about how you find information in general and about your health. As part of our discussion today, we will discuss how you interact with the world: face-to-face, over the phone, on the internet, or through other means. We will also talk about where you see advertising, what you like and don’t like about it, and the way you receive it. Your feedback is very important to us. It will help us understand how you make health care decisions. Our discussion will last about two hours.

I am an independent consultant hired to moderate these discussions. As such, I do not have a vested interest in receiving any particular point of view. I simply want to have an active and lively discussion with all of you.

I. Ground Rules

A. You have been asked here to offer your views and opinions; everyone’s participation is important

B. Audio/observers

C. Speak one at a time

D. No side conversations

E. No right or wrong answers

F. It is OK to be critical. If you dislike something or disagree with something that is said, I want to hear about it.

G. All answers will be kept private to the extent provided by law, so feel free to speak your mind.

II. Participant Introductions

To begin, I would like to have you go around the table and introduce yourselves. Please give me:

a. your first name only

b. hobbies

c. last live concert

III. Information-Seeking

1. Where do you get information about your health?

1. If you had a specific question about your health, where would you get information?

2. What role do family members and friends play?

1. How often do you speak with friends and family about your health in general (Moderator: for example, “I have a cold.”)

2. How often do you speak with friends and family about treatments for your health issues? (Moderator: for example, “How should I treat this cold?”)

3. How often do you ask friends and family for information on prescription drugs?

4. How often do friends and family ask you for or to help them find information on prescription drugs?

3. How often do you learn things about your health from watching television?

1. From shows or ads?

2. Which shows and which ads?

4. How often do you learn things about your health from reading magazines and newspapers?

1. Which magazines or newspapers?

2. From articles or ads?

3. How easy or difficult is it to tell the difference between an ad and part of the magazine?

5. How often do you talk to your health care providers (e.g., doctors, nurses, physician’s assistants) about your health questions?

6. When you want some specific information about your health, where do you look for that information?

IV. Internet

1. Many (or some) of you said that you go on the internet for health information.

1. What are some of the advantages of looking for health information on the internet?

2. What are some frustrations about looking for health information on the internet?

3. How do you access the internet? (desktop, laptop, hand-held)

4. Is there anything specific about that method that is particularly helpful or particularly frustrating when looking for health information?

5. How much time do you generally have to find this information?

a. How satisfied are you with the amount of time you have to find this information?

6. In general, how much do you believe what you see and read on the internet?

a. In general, what websites do you trust the most for health information? Why?

b. In general, what websites do you trust the least for health information? Why?

7. How often do you visit social media sites (e.g., facebook, twitter, blogs)?

1. How active are you on these sites? (do you post or lurk?)

2. How often do you use these sites to discuss health information? Why?

3. How satisfied are you with these discussions? Why?

4. How often do you use these sites to discuss prescription drugs? Why?

5. How satisfied are you with these discussions? Why?

V. Introduction to DTC Advertising

We all see a lot of advertising around us—on television, in magazines and newspapers, on the internet. We see a lot of advertising for medical products, including over-the-counter and prescription drugs, dietary supplements, medical devices, and health foods. What we are going to talk about next are ads for prescription drugs. These ads look a bit different from any other ads you see, even over-the-counter drug ads, because they always include information about the risks of using the product and they tell you to ask your doctor for more information.

[Show NyQuil print ad (OTC) and Toviaz print ad (DTC)]

Also, in television ads, these ads have an audio announcer who lists side effects that may come from the using the product and they tell you to ask your doctor for more information.

[Show Tylenol TV ad (OTC) and Orencia TV ad (DTC)]

1. Have you ever asked your doctor about a prescription drug you saw advertised?

1. What was the doctor’s response?

2. Did this improve or hurt your relationship with your healthcare provider?

3. Why do you think this was?

4. In general, when you visit your healthcare provider, how involved are you in the decision of which prescription drug to take?

IV. Questions/Discussion

1. How often do you notice these prescription drug ads?

2. How many of you have seen or heard a prescription drug ad on:

a. TV

b. Internet

c. Magazine

d. Newspaper

e. Radio

3. Which provides you with the most useful information? Why?

4. How many of you have mobile devices?

a. Do you see these types of ads on your mobile device?

b. What do these ads look like on these devices?

5. What do you recall best about prescription drug ads?

6. How often do you pay attention to the risk information in these ads?

7. Do you have any other comments about prescription drug advertising?

5. False Close

Moderator checks with observers to see if they have additional questions or clarifications.

5. Close

Thank you for spending your time with us tonight. Your comments are very helpful.

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