Visual priming of pharmaceutical advertising disclosures: effects of a motivation factor

Purpose – This study seeks to examine how consumers perceive a pharmaceutical company's advertisement through visual priming of the disclosure featured in the advertisement. Design/methodology/approach – An online study with a convenience sample consisting of college students is used to examine the effects of a visually primed pharmaceutical advertising disclosure on attitude toward responsible advertising practice, trust toward the advertisement and attitude toward the advertisement. Findings – The results reveal that consumers form better attitudes toward responsible advertising practice and higher levels of trust toward the advertisement when the disclosure is visually primed in the advertisement. However, visual priming of the disclosure may not enhance consumers' attitudes toward the advertisement. Further evidence indicates that allergy status, a motivation factor, has the main effect on attitude toward the advertisement. When consumers have allergies, they tend to form better attitudes toward the advertisement. Research limitations/implications – Despite the inherent limitations of this study that have to be confirmed in future research, this study suggests that visual priming of advertising disclosure may enhance consumers' attitudes toward advertising practice and trust toward the advertisement. However, consumers' attitudes toward the advertisement are enhanced directly by personal relevance to the advertisement instead of visual priming. Practical implications – Based on the results of this study, the study provides a more realistic and socially responsible advertising disclosure practice for attracting consumer attention and processing toward pharmaceutical advertising. Originality/value – This paper adds value to the existing literature on corporate social responsibility and promotes the effective management of socially responsible business through two main approaches: adopting visual priming of pharmaceutical advertising disclosure; and implementing more responsible pharmaceutical advertising practices.