| Attitude toward the ad (Aad) is widely known to be an essential predictor of behavioral intentions. Therefore, a number of studies have addressed Aad in the DTCA literature. Despite this interest in Aad, there has not been a comprehensive attempt to investigate general findings across independent DTCA studies. Such an investigation is useful in understanding the general strength and variability of the relationships and the study conditions that moderate those relationships. For example, while some studies have reported no evidence of a significant effect of Aad on behavioral intentions, others have reported a significant effect. Furthermore, different studies have found widely varying magnitudes of the Aad effect on behavioral intentions. In order to assess the strength and variability of the A ad-intention relationship, the current research meta-analyzed A ad effects aggregated across all available research in the extant DTCA literature. In addition to the assessment of the relationship between A ad and intentions, this study also investigated the relationships between Aad and its antecedents and the potential moderating variables. The results of this meta-analysis provide considerable insight into the effects of Aad in the contexts of DTCA and the state of DTCA research.;As with any meta-analysis, the data provide a quantitative summary. In the current meta-analysis, the data provided a summary of 278 samples reported in the 36 articles for which the author could obtain usable data. Variables were classified into three levels. The first level included demographic characteristics, ad awareness, involvement, health status, and drug usage. The second level contained consumers' attitudes toward the ad. The third included behavioral intentions. The first level directly and/or indirectly affected the second and third. The second level directly influenced the third.;As shown in Tables 4-1 through 4-5 and analyzed above, the aggregated study effects suggested a significant relationship between Aad and a number of important constructs, including both antecedents (education, r = -.12 and Zr = -.12 and income, r = -.08, Zr = -.08) and consequences (behavioral intention, r = .19 and Zr = .20 and pharmacist intention, r = .15, Zr = .15). In addition, the results also found that consumers' intentions were influenced by personal characteristics, including gender (r = .02 and Zr = .08), health status (r = -.12 and Z r = -.12), drug usage (r = .14 and Zr = .15), and ad exposure (r = .23 and Zr = .24). The results showed that consumers who (a) were less educated, (b) had a low income (c) were female, (d) were in bad health, (e) took a lot of drugs, or (f) were exposed to advertising frequently tended to have more favorable attitudes toward DTCA than those who (a) were more educated, (b) had a high income (c) were male, (d) were in good health, (e) took few drugs, or (f) were exposed to advertising less frequently. However, in general, the strength of each of these relationships was small or small to moderate. |
