MKTG309: Case Study 2: Prescription Drug Abuse
MKTG309: Social Marketing and Sustainability
Case Study 2: Prescription Drug Abuse
Name of Student: Shmaya Krinsky
Student Number: 43304117
Time of Tutorial: Tuesday 3pm
Due Date: 2nd May 2014
MKTG309: Case Study 2: Prescription Drug Abuse
digital content : http://www.drugfreeworld.org/real-life-stories/prescription-drug-use.html
Prescription drugs, the drug under the rug. There has become an increasing usage of prescription drugs around the world, yet there seems to be very minimal awareness of this issue. People all around the world have been raised with anti drug campaigns and have been educated a great deal on the dangers of them. However …show more content…
there seems to be a mass ignorance about the growing problem and extreme dangers of using and abusing prescription drugs. Throughout this paper, there will be a brief view into the growing problem of prescription drugs diversion, which are the most used and abused, the tremendous dangers of abusing them, what has been done to combat the issue and what could be done to improve this epidemic.
There are various types of prescription drugs that are being abused.
Some of these are depressants, opioids, morphine derivatives and stimulants.
Examples of depressants are sleep medication, Stilton, Xanax, benzodiazepine.
Examples of opioids and morphine include, codeine, morphine, methadone and oxycodone. With regards to stimulants there is amphetamines and methylphenidate. These are just a few of the big brand drugs among hundreds more. These drugs will be abused for any given reason whether it is for pain relief, euphoria, hallucination, sedatives, increased energy or increased mental alertness.
In 2011 the U.S department of heath and human services reported that in the past year, 16 million people admitted to using drugs for nonmedical reasons and 7 million people in the past month. It was also reported that prescription drugs were the second highest abused drugs in the country, right after marijuana. The diversion of prescription drugs could be a reason for the mass amounts of abuse. Prescription drug diversion is the illegal channeling from legal resources to the illicit market. This interception can happen at numerous points in the distribution chain, from the original manufacturing site to the wholesaler, doctors, pharmacy’s and or patients (James, Inciardi et al. …show more content…
2007).
The dangers of using these drugs can be life changing, if not life ending.
The addictive properties in these drugs are extremely high and can often be more addictive then street drugs such as cocaine, heroine and ecstasy. A report done by Columbia University stated that deaths due to overdoses on opioid were seven times higher then in 1990, with an estimation of 100,000 people overdosing (Cerda et al. 2013).
Over the years, Australia has begun to combat illegal street drug use, with variety of advertising and marketing schemes. Yet there seems to be no mention at all about the extreme dangers over prescription drugs. It is an issue that needs to be combated
immediately.
People seem to perceive prescription drugs as being safe or if not, at least safer then illegal street drugs because its made by pharmaceutical companies, when in reality this could not be further from the truth.
A marketing technique that could be used to combat this growing epidemic is the sources credibility theory. The theory refers to the persuasiveness of the message sender or source of the advertisement (Choi & La Ferle 2005). This technique is commonly used within social marketing. Celebrities whom have suffered from prescription medication addiction could be positive message senders. Celebrities are more recognisable and popular than the average person, thus giving them more credibility in advertising. There are three parts to celebrity endorser’s credibility, which are expertise, trustworthiness and attractiveness (Ohanian 1990). Two suggested celebrities could be Grant Hackett and Mathew Perry as they were both celebrities who were unfortunate enough to fall under the addiction of prescription drugs.
The campaign should be targeting people of all ages, demographics and sexes as this issue is widespread through out them all. Furthermore, it should show multiple videos educating the public on various issues and key points of information. The campaign should inform the public that everyone is a potential candidate for abuse, no matter what their statues is, anyone can fall under the dark addiction of prescription drugs.
With a campaign using source credibility and targeting all segments of the public, there is defiantly a chance to combat this growing epidemic and create a slow decline with misused prescription drugs.
References:
Choi, S. and La Ferle, M. (2005). The importance of perceived endorser credibility in South Korean advertising. Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising. Vol. 27, No. 2, pp. 67-81.
Drug and Alcohol Dependence
Volume 132, Issues 1–2, 1 September 2013, Pages 53–62 Prescription opioid mortality trends in New York City, 1990–2006: Examining the emergence of an epidemic Magdalena Cerdáa Yusuf Ransome, Katherine M. Keyesa, Karestan C. Koenena, Melissa Tracy, Kenneth J. Tardiffc, David Vlahovd, Sandro Galeaa
Mechanisms of Prescription Drug Diversion Among Drug-Involved Club- and Street-Based Populations
James A. Inciardi PhD,, Hilary L. Surratt PhD, Steven P. Kurtz PhD and Theodore J. Cicero PhD Volume 8, Issue 2, pages 171–183, March 2007
Ohanian, R. (1990). Construction and validation of a scale to measure celebrity endorsers’ perceived expertise, trustworthiness and attractiveness. Journal of Advertising. Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 39-52.
Commonly Abused Prescription Drugs. National Institution of Health. U.S Department of Health and Human Services 2011 http://www.drugabuse.gov/sites/default/files/rx_drugs_placemat_508c_10052011.pdf
digital content : http://www.drugfreeworld.org/real-life-stories/prescription-drug-use.html
Case Study 2: Prescription Drug Abuse
Name of Student: Shmaya Krinsky
Student Number: 43304117
Time of Tutorial: Tuesday 3pm
Due Date: 2nd May 2014
MKTG309: Case Study 2: Prescription Drug Abuse
digital content : http://www.drugfreeworld.org/real-life-stories/prescription-drug-use.html
Prescription drugs, the drug under the rug. There has become an increasing usage of prescription drugs around the world, yet there seems to be very minimal awareness of this issue. People all around the world have been raised with anti drug campaigns and have been educated a great deal on the dangers of them. However …show more content…
there seems to be a mass ignorance about the growing problem and extreme dangers of using and abusing prescription drugs. Throughout this paper, there will be a brief view into the growing problem of prescription drugs diversion, which are the most used and abused, the tremendous dangers of abusing them, what has been done to combat the issue and what could be done to improve this epidemic.
There are various types of prescription drugs that are being abused.
Some of these are depressants, opioids, morphine derivatives and stimulants.
Examples of depressants are sleep medication, Stilton, Xanax, benzodiazepine.
Examples of opioids and morphine include, codeine, morphine, methadone and oxycodone. With regards to stimulants there is amphetamines and methylphenidate. These are just a few of the big brand drugs among hundreds more. These drugs will be abused for any given reason whether it is for pain relief, euphoria, hallucination, sedatives, increased energy or increased mental alertness.
In 2011 the U.S department of heath and human services reported that in the past year, 16 million people admitted to using drugs for nonmedical reasons and 7 million people in the past month. It was also reported that prescription drugs were the second highest abused drugs in the country, right after marijuana. The diversion of prescription drugs could be a reason for the mass amounts of abuse. Prescription drug diversion is the illegal channeling from legal resources to the illicit market. This interception can happen at numerous points in the distribution chain, from the original manufacturing site to the wholesaler, doctors, pharmacy’s and or patients (James, Inciardi et al. …show more content…
2007).
The dangers of using these drugs can be life changing, if not life ending.
The addictive properties in these drugs are extremely high and can often be more addictive then street drugs such as cocaine, heroine and ecstasy. A report done by Columbia University stated that deaths due to overdoses on opioid were seven times higher then in 1990, with an estimation of 100,000 people overdosing (Cerda et al. 2013).
Over the years, Australia has begun to combat illegal street drug use, with variety of advertising and marketing schemes. Yet there seems to be no mention at all about the extreme dangers over prescription drugs. It is an issue that needs to be combated
immediately.
People seem to perceive prescription drugs as being safe or if not, at least safer then illegal street drugs because its made by pharmaceutical companies, when in reality this could not be further from the truth.
A marketing technique that could be used to combat this growing epidemic is the sources credibility theory. The theory refers to the persuasiveness of the message sender or source of the advertisement (Choi & La Ferle 2005). This technique is commonly used within social marketing. Celebrities whom have suffered from prescription medication addiction could be positive message senders. Celebrities are more recognisable and popular than the average person, thus giving them more credibility in advertising. There are three parts to celebrity endorser’s credibility, which are expertise, trustworthiness and attractiveness (Ohanian 1990). Two suggested celebrities could be Grant Hackett and Mathew Perry as they were both celebrities who were unfortunate enough to fall under the addiction of prescription drugs.
The campaign should be targeting people of all ages, demographics and sexes as this issue is widespread through out them all. Furthermore, it should show multiple videos educating the public on various issues and key points of information. The campaign should inform the public that everyone is a potential candidate for abuse, no matter what their statues is, anyone can fall under the dark addiction of prescription drugs.
With a campaign using source credibility and targeting all segments of the public, there is defiantly a chance to combat this growing epidemic and create a slow decline with misused prescription drugs.
References:
Choi, S. and La Ferle, M. (2005). The importance of perceived endorser credibility in South Korean advertising. Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising. Vol. 27, No. 2, pp. 67-81.
Drug and Alcohol Dependence
Volume 132, Issues 1–2, 1 September 2013, Pages 53–62 Prescription opioid mortality trends in New York City, 1990–2006: Examining the emergence of an epidemic Magdalena Cerdáa Yusuf Ransome, Katherine M. Keyesa, Karestan C. Koenena, Melissa Tracy, Kenneth J. Tardiffc, David Vlahovd, Sandro Galeaa
Mechanisms of Prescription Drug Diversion Among Drug-Involved Club- and Street-Based Populations
James A. Inciardi PhD,, Hilary L. Surratt PhD, Steven P. Kurtz PhD and Theodore J. Cicero PhD Volume 8, Issue 2, pages 171–183, March 2007
Ohanian, R. (1990). Construction and validation of a scale to measure celebrity endorsers’ perceived expertise, trustworthiness and attractiveness. Journal of Advertising. Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 39-52.
Commonly Abused Prescription Drugs. National Institution of Health. U.S Department of Health and Human Services 2011 http://www.drugabuse.gov/sites/default/files/rx_drugs_placemat_508c_10052011.pdf
digital content : http://www.drugfreeworld.org/real-life-stories/prescription-drug-use.html