Results from two studies funded by the Federal Trade Commission show disclosure statements for dietary supplements are largely ineffective in helping consumers understand product efficacy claims after they view testimonial advertisements.

The first of the studies was submitted to FTC in September 2003 and the second in September 2004. However, the commission published them for the first time Jan. 16, 2007.

The studies measured the effects of consumer testimonials and disclosure statements on ad communication for dietary supplements. The second study also expanded the research to include ads for weight-loss products and business opportunities.

In the study submitted in 2003, more than half of the subjects said they considered consumer testimonials included in ads for a dietary supplement to be efficacy claims, according to Manoj Hastak, Ph.D., and Michael B. Mazis, Ph.D., of the Kogod School of Business, American University, Washington, D.C.

The study also showed dietary supplement disclosures "failed to reduce significantly communication of product efficacy claims," the researchers say.

The second study, also by Hastak and Mazis, showed when the phrase "results not typical" is included in disclaimers, it makes no significant effect on the opinions of consumers exposed to testimonial ads.

FTC requests comments on these studies as well as on its Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising in a Jan. 18 Federal Register notice.

In a Jan. 16 release, the commission says it requests comments on other available research pertaining to "consumers' expectation regarding compensation of celebrity endorsers who endorse a product outside the context of a traditional advertisement, and whether knowledge of such compensation might affect the credibility of the endorsement."

FTC says the comments request is part of an ongoing systematic review of its regulations and guides. Comments are due March 19.

The earlier study was conducted in seven shopping malls in different areas of the country and involved 100 men and 100 women who said they were dietary supplement users and they suffered from breathing problems, low energy or chronic pain.

The participants were shown booklets consisting of 18 testimonials "extolling the virtues of the dietary supplement" marketed to relieve for pulmonary problems, fatigue and chronic pain, Hastak and Mazis state. They also were shown disclosure statements.

Five groups were shown testimonial booklets, four with different disclosure statements and a fifth without a disclosure.

A sixth group received a letter without testimonials or disclosures, but "touting the dietary supplement as an 'astonishing' nutritional product," the authors say.

Hastak and Mazis found the disclosures did not have a significant impact on consumers' opinions about the dietary supplement's efficacy or typicality of results.

"The study suggests that prominent disclosures in ads containing multiple testimonials may be ineffective in limiting the communication of efficacy and typicality claims," the authors state.

The later study involved 1,624 participants interviewed about an ad for a fictitious weight-loss product, cholesterol-lowering dietary supplement or business opportunity.

The researchers found the disclosure statements were largely unsuccessful in changing participants' perceptions about the ads.

However, a third disclosure for the weight-loss product ad that was more specific ("average 10 pounds") did have a significant effect on consumers' opinions about the ad.

"When there is a general disclaimer on a product, people don't really pay attention," Mazis told "The Tan Sheet."

"But if there is a specific disclaimer, it gives consumers a basis for comparison," he stated.

The commission published the studies 12 days after it announced settlements with marketers of dietary supplements for making unsubstantiated weight-loss and -control claims. The actions included FTC's largest health claim-related fine, $3.2 million against Bayer Consumer Care (¹ Also see "FTC Supplement Settlements Spotlight Bayer, Mark First Hoodia Action" - Pink Sheet, 8 January, 2007., p. 4).

- Jessica Lake

Disclosure Statements In Testimonial Ads Largely Ineffective – FTC Studies

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