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What is in a Name: Drug Names Convey Implicit Information about Their Riskiness and Efficacy
Author(s) -
Tasso Alessandra,
Gavaruzzi Teresa,
Lotto Lorella
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
applied cognitive psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.719
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1099-0720
pISSN - 0888-4080
DOI - 10.1002/acp.3033
Subject(s) - psychology , meaning (existential) , health literacy , perception , drug , literacy , social psychology , cognitive psychology , psychiatry , health care , psychotherapist , pedagogy , neuroscience , economics , economic growth
Summary The present research provides empirical evidence that drug names may entail implicit promises about their therapeutic power. We asked people to evaluate the perceived efficacy and risk associated with hypothetical drug names and other secondary related measures. We compared opaque (without meaning), functional (targeting the health issue that the drug is meant to solve) and persuasive (targeting the expected outcome of the treatment) names. Persuasive names were perceived as more efficacious and less risky than both opaque and functional names, suggesting that names that target the expected outcome of the drug may bias the perception of risk and efficacy. Implications for health‐related communication are discussed in light of both the increasing use of over‐the‐counter drugs and the concern about people's low health literacy. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.