TY  - JOUR
AU  - Iizuka,Toshiaki
AU  - Jin,Ginger Zhe
TI  - Drug Advertising and Health Habit
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 11770
PY  - 2005
Y2  - November 2005
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w11770
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w11770.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Toshiaki Iizuka
Aoyama Gakuin University
Shibuya 4-4-25
Tokyo, 150-8366
Japan
E-Mail: toshi.iizuka@gmail.com

Ginger Z. Jin
University of Maryland
Department of Economics
3115F Tydings Hall
College Park, MD  20742-7211
Tel: 301/405-3484
Fax: 301/405-3542
E-Mail: jin@econ.umd.edu
AB  - We examine the effect of direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of drug treatment on an important health habit, physical exercise. By learning the existence of a new drug treatment via DTCA, rational consumers may become careless about maintaining healthy lifestyles. Using the National Health Insurance Survey (NHIS) and MSA-level DTCA data, we find that the DTCA related to four chronic conditions -- diabetes, high cholesterol, over weight, and hypertension -- reduce the likelihood of engaging in moderate exercise. This suggests the possibility that DTCA does not only affect pharmaceutical demand in the short-run, but also have long-run impacts on people's health by affecting their daily routines.
ER  -