Concrete Action Plans in TV Messages to Increase Reading of Drug Warnings

A field experiment was conducted to test the effect on in-store behaviors of exposure to short messages, added to brand advertisements for over-the-counter drugs, which urged that package warnings be read. The messages varied in the concreteness of the verbal action recommendation and whether or not a visual enactment of the action sequence was shown. Combining a concrete language and a visual action demonstration produced the only increase in package inspections (a short-term effect) and also increased tendencies to read in-store warning signs.