Online Video Advertising of Anti-Malarial Drugs and Consumer Purchase Decision in Anambra State

Abstract

Advertising through online video is a powerful way to generate an emotional connection between a potential customer and the product advertised. The age long monopoly of video advertising by television has been broken with the upsurge of low-cost digital video production and distribution that is focused more on deploying technology toward niche marketing. This study examined the extent to which online video advertisement of anti-malarial drugs influenced patronage of the products. The population of the study was 5,527,800(NPC 2016 projection) residents in Anambra Sate.  A sample of 400 respondents was chosen using the Taro-Yamane’s formula for sample size determination and drawn using a multi-design approach.  A twenty-five-item questionnaire and interview was used for data gathering. The research findings show that respondents were exposed to online video advertisement of anti-malaria drugs and majority of them had equally seen such drugs advertised online. It also reveals that some of the respondents in Anambra Sate were influenced by appeals and claims of online video anti-malarial advertisement. The study further shows that some respondents’ choice of anti-malarial drugs was influenced by their exposure to the online video ads. Those ads encouraged them to purchase drugs and use without doctor’s prescription. The study recommends that online video advertisement of anti-malarial drugs should be properly regulated by NAFDAC. There should be adequate consumer education on self-medication and use of other prescription drugs.