Beavers, Bubbles, Bees, and Moths

Abstract

<h3>ABSTRACT</h3> Several prescription drug brands use animated characters in direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising. This article draws on the literature on spokescharacters to address four research questions: What different types of animated spokescharacters are used in DTC advertising? How are prescription drug marketers using spokescharacters in DTC advertising? To what extent are these characters integrated into the websites for these brands? Is there any evidence that the use of animated spokescharacters enhances advertising effectiveness? Animated characters are used in various ways, such as the symbol of a disease, a victim, or as the mechanism of action. Brands vary greatly in their integration of spokescharacters into DTC websites. Evidence from secondary data indicates that brands using spokescharacters perform better than average in recall and in brand-association tests.