Consumers’ Credibility Perceptions and Attitudes Toward Prescription Drug Websites

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to examine the effectiveness of third-party versus brand-sponsored websites in enhancing consumer evaluations of website and information credibility and attitudes toward websites providing prescription drug information. It also examines the moderating effects of perceived risk and product category knowledge on the relationship between website type and consumer credibility perceptions and attitudes. The results of two experiments revealed no main effect of website type; instead, the effect of website type was moderated by perceived risk and product category knowledge. The impact of third-party websites was superior when perceived risk was high rather than low. Additionally, third-party websites were more effective when product category knowledge was low rather than high. Managerial and theoretical implications are discussed.