Effects of different types of package leaflets on self-medication decision-making

Self-medication behavior is currently very widespread but its triggers are still not well known. Some studies suggest that the level of knowledge that people have about the drug can influence the decision to self-medicate or not. The blurred footprint theory has been applied with great success in the field of health decision-making. This theory suggests that humans encode two types of representations in experiences: 1. Literal representation (verbatim) and 2. Essence representation (gist). Following this theory, decisions made in the field of health better contemplate risks when they are codified in essential rather than literal representations. In the present study, we manipulated the type of information provided to participants in the drug package insert (1. No package insert; 2. Verbatim package insert; 3. Essential package package or gist), in order to examine its effects in the presence or not of self-medication and immediately preceding behaviors related to the leaflet, namely: reading or not of the leaflet, time dedicated to exploring the leaflet and level of learning reached from the contents of the leaflet. In addition, a second study will examine the effect of the type of drug name on decision-making processes around self-medication behavior. This variable will allow self-medication to be explored as a consumption behavior that, as such, is strongly influenced by advertising.