Public Relations and Advertising Commons^™

The Effects Of Anti-Depressant Advertising On Perception Of Depression In College Students At Marshall University, Deirdre Robertson

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This exploratory study was designed to determine the effects, if any, of direct-to-consumer advertising of anti-depressants on Marshall University students’ perceptions of depression and anti-depressant medication. For the purposes of the study, two versions of an advertisement were created: one including three false statements regarding depression and antidepressants, and one without false statements. A fifteen-question survey was also created as a baseline to measure whether the advertisement condition had any direct effects on the participants’ perceptions of depression and anti-depression and to provide comparison for the participants’ reactions. All three groups took the survey. There were ninety participants in the …