Department of Pharmacy Administration and Allied Health Sciences, St John's University College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions, 8000 Utopia Pkwy, St Albert Hall, Jamaica, NY 11374, USA.
Res Social Adm Pharm. 2013 Jan-Feb;9(1):60-79. doi: 10.1016/j.sapharm.2012.04.001. Epub 2012 Jun 12.
Anthropomorphism is attribution of human characteristics to nonhuman objects or events. Marketers have used anthropomorphized characters to promote products and services. To promote use of generic drugs to save on prescription drug costs, health systems are in the process of developing informational materials to influence consumer's perceptions about generic prescription drugs.
To evaluate the effects of anthropomorphic images (control vs caring vs authoritative) and information narration styles (first person vs third person) on (1) social presence, (2) attitude toward the overall promotional message, (3) perceived informativeness of the message content, (4) attitude toward specific message, (5) intent to seek information, and (6) intention to switch to a generic prescription drug.
A 3×2 between-subject factorial design was used. Student participants were administered a mock promotional message regarding generic prescription drugs. Following the promotional message, they were asked to respond to items developed to measure the effects of the promotional message. Manipulation checks were conducted to test the desired effects of the independent variables. Pilot testing, exploratory factor analysis, and reliability testing of the item measures were conducted before their use in the study. Analysis of variance was used to analyze the data and test the proposed effects of the independent variables.
Anthropomorphic images showed a positive effect on social presence and attitude toward the specific message. Narration styles had a positive effect on attitude toward the overall promotional message. Neither anthropomorphic images nor narration styles had a significant effect on perceived informativeness, intent to seek information, and intention to switch to a generic prescription drug.
This research reveals that anthropomorphism of medications and narration styles could play a significant role in promotional messages for generic prescription drugs. These findings provide a new direction in developing educational materials for information about generic prescription drugs.
拟人化是将人类特征归因于非人类的物体或事件。营销人员已经使用拟人化的角色来推广产品和服务。为了推广使用通用药物以节省处方药费用，医疗系统正在开发信息材料，以影响消费者对通用处方药的看法。
评估拟人化图像（控制、关怀、权威）和信息叙述风格（第一人称、第三人称）对（1）社会存在感、（2）对整体促销信息的态度、（3）对信息内容的感知信息量、（4）对特定信息的态度、（5）寻求信息的意图和（6）转用通用处方药的意图的影响。
采用 3×2 被试间因子设计。给学生参与者提供一份关于通用处方药的模拟促销信息。在促销信息之后，他们被要求回答为衡量促销信息效果而开发的项目。进行了操控检验以检验自变量的预期效果。在研究中使用之前，进行了试点测试、探索性因素分析和项目测量的可靠性测试。使用方差分析来分析数据并检验自变量的拟议效果。
拟人化图像对社会存在感和对特定信息的态度有积极影响。叙述风格对整体促销信息的态度有积极影响。拟人化图像和叙述风格都没有对感知信息量、寻求信息的意图和转用通用处方药的意图产生显著影响。
这项研究表明，药物的拟人化和叙述风格可以在通用处方药的促销信息中发挥重要作用。这些发现为开发关于通用处方药的信息教育材料提供了新的方向。
