A longitudinal assessment of consumers' attitudes toward physicians' advertising.

The purpose of this study is to investigate current attitudes and opinions toward physicians' advertising and to compare them to the attitudes expressed 20 years ago. It replicates a survey done in 1986 and uses the same questionnaire and the same population to compare responses longitudinally. Both the 1986 and 2006 respondents agreed that the public would be provided useful information through advertising by physicians, and both groups also believed that it is proper for physicians to advertise. The study seems to confirm the belief of many marketing professionals that advertising and marketing clearly have a place in the future of health care services.