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To determine how seniors evaluate, compare, and use prescription drug information sources, provide insight on perceptions of the credibility, trustworthiness, and value of these sources, and capture verbatim comments for translation into scalar statements in future surveys.

A total of 25 in‐depth interviews were conducted with US seniors age 65 or older. The transcripts were analyzed using an interpretative approach.

Informants distinguish between sources on the dimension of credibility; place the most trust in physicians but since they tend to experience a lack of time and attention from them, mass media seem to fill an information gap; and direct‐to‐physician promotions appear to have an indirect influence on patients' perceived credibility of and interaction with physicians.

The findings suggest that identification of key sources should consider two factors: frequency of access/utilization and trust in information provided by the source. The findings also provide empirically‐grounded statements for future scale development.

The results suggest that for multi‐media campaign effectiveness: advertising for a new drug may be most effective on TV but as a brand enters growth or maturity, print may be a better option; marketers should emphasize print in the direct‐to‐consumer (DTC) advertising media mix; sampling strategies should be coordinated with product packaging literature and emphasized to promote trial; and marketers should attempt to increase internet usage among seniors and utilize the medium more actively but avoid online advertising.

The findings contribute to knowledge on the responsiveness of US seniors to DTC advertising and other prescription drug information sources.

The over‐the‐counter (OTC) drug market is highly competitive, and consumer advertising is a prominent influence in OTC drug purchase and consumption. Given current marketplace conditions, it is important to summarize OTC drug advertising research. This paper aims to review the state of the public research literature on OTC drug advertising and provide a research agenda derived from the findings.

A literature review was conducted to identify the key themes in OTC drug advertising research and secondary data were collected about the regulation, nature, functions, and scope of OTC drug advertising.

Most pharmaceutical advertising studies have focused on prescription drugs, including the majority of direct‐to‐consumer advertising investigations. OTC drug advertising has received considerably less empirical attention. Since the mid‐1970s, only 24 OTC drug advertising studies have appeared sporadically in the literature. The cumulative findings are interesting and suggestive but dated, fragmented, and incomplete. Though research interest has waned, OTC drug markets and advertising spending have not. Advertising remains a prominent OTC drug purchase and consumption driver, likely spurred on by self‐medication and Rx‐to‐OTC drug switching. The state of the public research, the social and policy implications of self‐medication, and the growing OTC drug market signal that it is time to revisit OTC drug advertising content, processes, and effects.

The paper puts the subject of OTC drug advertising back on the radar of communication, advertising, and pharmaceutical marketing researchers and offers an agenda of research questions derived from the reviewed literature to guide and stimulate future studies.

Few studies have explored the direct influence of social networking websites (SNWs), and to the best of our knowledge, none have examined the indirect influence of SNWs on users and how that indirect influence leads to word‐of‐mouth related behaviors in SNWs. This study employs the theoretical framework of the third‐person effect theory, which is grounded in psychology, to examine the indirect influence of SNWs and how that indirect influence may potentially contribute to marketing research and practice. Davison’s (1983) third‐person effect (TPE) theory proposes that individuals tend to expect mass media to have a greater effect on others than on themselves. After the analysis of survey data, the current research first explores whether a third‐person effect exists in the SNW context and if it does, how it differs from that in traditional media context. Based on theory and numerous empirical findings, the current research also investigates how the thirdperson effect varies with different referent “others”. Finally, based on the theoretical propositions of previous studies, this study links third‐person effect to behavioral consequences related to word‐of‐mouth communication via SNWs. The results support all hypotheses. This work contributes to consumer psychology and word‐of‐mouth communication research, and generates implications for marketers targeting young consumers and/or those interested in stimulating word‐of‐mouth communication in the SNW context. Limitations are also addressed.