A Study on the Newspaper Advertising of Medicines in Korea

-An Analysis of the Contents that Major Brands Advertise in Daily Newspapers-

Hong Jun-Rak(Major in management Graduate School of Business Administration at Dongguk University)

In modern times when the strategy of marketing is needed, advertising plays an important role as a means of communicating the commodity information to the consumers. However, when the advertising cannot communicate the proper information to the consumers, it cannot but have a wrong effect on making a decision to buy commodities. Because medicines, unlike other commodities, are closely related to the life of the buyers the morality of advertising is regarded as important, and hence the advertising of medicines is externally regarded by 'The Pharmaceutical Affairs Law' on the one hand and self-regulated by 'Newspaper advertising Moral Principles' on the other hand.

This thesis attempts to analyze the contents of daily-newspaper advertisement column where the major 15 medicine makers spend a lot of money in advertising and to provide necessary data for improving the newspaper advertising. To begin with, the content analysis of the newspaper advertisement column is concerned mainly with the regulating criteria for the advertising of medicines, the standard for the quality indication of the brand and the advantage of newspaper media.

The contents of this paper are as follows:

Chapter 1: The purpose, object and domain of this study.

Chapter 2: The definition and distribution structure of medicines.

Chapter 3: The newspaper advertising and advertising of medicines.

Chapter 4: The present situation and problems of newspaper advertising of medicines in Korea.

Chapter 5: Conclusion

This research showed the following problems:

1. The newspaper advertising of medicines does not observe the related regulations quite well.

2. The size of the advertisement column of medicines is so small that sufficient information is not included.

3. Only 26 out of the total 1118 advertisements surveyed are color advertisements.

4. The size or form of the advertising is relatively simplified from first-class to 11th-class, according to the brand.

5. Newspaper advertising concentrates more on the name of brand and the effect or efficacy of a medicine than on the rational appeal, that is to say, the advantage of newspaper.

6. While the label of medicines contains relatively sufficient information, newspaper advertisement column does not contain any disadvantages of medicines.

The problems mentioned above should be solved;

1. Sponsors as well as media of advertisement must observe advertisement-related regulations strictly.

2. Advertising of medicines should enlarge the advertisement column space for the more sufficient information and should be diversified.

3. Advertising of medicines should be the rational appeal and must enlarge the color advertisement column.

4. Advertising of medicines should be changed into enterprise advertisement rather than the advertising of brand through the mass media and should gradually advertise in the newspapers or magazines specialized in medical science or pharmacy.

Because the domain of this research is restricted to the major 15 brands having advertised in 5 newspapers for six months there is a question as to whether the above-mentioned improvements will apply to all other advertisements of medicines. And there is another defect that this paper has no consideration for the circulation of each newspaper and the number of subscribers of the newspaper.

In order to improve the advertisement, a piece of information for consumers and the consumer's attitude toward the advertisements through the modern mass media should be carefully examined. Moreover, sponsors, advertisement manufacturers and companies of mass media should pay more attention to the manufacture of advertisement than to the advertising regulations or precensorship, and all the consumers should participate actively in the consumer protection movement in order to establish consumerism in all areas of this society.