Beyond the commerce of birth control: An examination of the content of Web-based DTC and user created messages about oral contraceptives

Pharmaceuticals account for billions of dollars in sales in the United States each year, and contraceptives are a large part of this total. The control, marketing, and prescription of these drugs are not just a healthcare concerns, but have wider societal implications as well. Pharmaceutical advertising, also known as direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising has become increasingly popular in the U.S. after regulations governing DTC advertising were relaxed in recent decades.;Due to the popularity of this type of adverting, this study investigated the messages and tactics used by pharmaceutical companies on their marketing Web sites. The Internet is a fast-growing advertising platform because marketers can narrowly target their markets, quickly update their sales messages, and reach a large population cost effectively. The interactive nature of the online environment also makes the World Wide Web an attractive medium with which to reach audiences. Web sites for all of the U.S. brands of hormonal contraceptives, a total of 37, were content analyzed. The results indicated that all of the Web sites did a good job of presenting risk and side effect information, and only one Web site did not include the time of onset to action. However, the Web sites rarely used endorsements by medical personnel, showed women of color on the sites, or offered any sexual or general health information. None of the Web sites offered Spanish language options.;Communication about birth control among women was also investigated in this study. Bulletin boards were studied using textual analysis to determining how women use the Internet to gain and offer social support about contraceptives. A total of 240 threads from six message boards were studied, resulting in a total of 1,584 posts. The study showed that evidence of informational support was most prevalent on the bulletin boards, followed by emotional support. The boards were used by women to pose and respond to questions about birth control. Women often thanked other users for their responses and commented about the helpfulness of such online forums. Many posts on the boards also indicated a mistrust of healthcare professionals and the pharmaceutical industry.;KEYWORDS: Birth Control, DTC Advertising, Web Advertising, Online Social Support, Content Analysis.