《科学美国人60秒》解读系列丨药品广告副作用警示可以提高顾客购买欲

Medications come with long lists of potential side effects. Now a study finds that the litany of unpleasant consequences does not deter prospective purchasers. In fact, those warnings might actually increase drug sales. For the study, subjects were shown two different versions of ads for three different products:cigarettes, artificial sweeteners and medications.

很多药物有潜在的副作用。而现在一项研究发现,这些不愉快的副作用竟然没有妨碍潜在购买者。事实上,这些警示反而可能会增加药品的销售。在这项实验中,研究人员向受试者展示了香烟,人工甜味剂和药物三样不同产品各两个不同版本的广告。

- litany  [ˈlɪtəni] n. 冗长而枯燥的陈述

- deter  [dɪˈtɜːr] v. 阻止，制止，使不敢

- purchasers  [ˈpɜrtʃəsərz] n. 用户，购买者（purchaser的复数形式）

One version of the ads clearly warned of potential perils—for example, hair loss, weight gain or stroke. The other set of ads were warning-free. Subjects who saw ads with warnings were initially less likely to buy the products. But when surveyed again some time later, they were actually more likely to make the purchase than were those who saw ads without the warnings. The study is in the journal Psychological Science.

其中一个版本的广告清楚地警告了潜在的风险,比如脱发,体重增加或中风等等。而另一组广告则完全没有警示。那些看到带有警示广告的受试者最初不太愿意购买产品。但是当一段时间后再次调查，他们的购买欲望相比那些看过没有警示广告的人更为强烈。这项研究已经在《心理科学》杂志上发表。

- perils  [ˈpɛrəlz] n. 事故，风险(peril的复数形式)

- stroke  [stroʊk] v. 轻抚，轻拭；n. 击打的动作

The researchers say after some time goes viewers of the ads interpret the listing of negative side effects as a show of good faith: a sign of trustworthiness. Who would have thought you could increase demand with...nausea, diarrhea, bloating, etcetera….

研究人员表示,经过一些时间的推移观众将广告中的负面影响理解为商家的以示诚信:这是一种卖方诚信的标志。谁会想到通过恶心、腹泻、腹胀等等副作用说明就能提高你的购买欲呢？

- trustworthiness  [ˈtrʌstwɜːrðinəs] n. 可靠

- nausea   [ˈnɔːziə] n. 恶心，晕船

- diarrhea  [daɪəˈriə] n. 腹泻，痢疾

- bloating   [ˈbloʊtɪŋ] adj. （身体）发胀的；v. 膨胀，鼓大（bloat的现在分词形式）