Attitudes Towards Advertising in Dentistry in Hong Kong

Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the attitudes of Hong Kong public and dentists towards dental advertisement in Hong Kong. Methods: In the public survey, a telephone survey was conducted so as to access a random sample of the public representing the Hong Kong population. In the dentist survey, self-administered questionnaires were mailed to a representative sample of dentists through systematic sampling. Results: 204 public respondents participated in the telephone survey and 297 dentists completed the questionnaires with the response rates of 34.6% and 61.1% respectively. More than half (53.4%) of the public respondents were in support of dental advertising in Hong Kong. Whereas, more than half (50.8%) of the dentists against the dental advertising. Generally, those who supported the dental advertising had more positive views on the effects of advertising on different aspects but those who against had more negative views. The most preferred pieces of information, apart from the basic information of dentists, to be included in the dental advertisement chosen by the public were treatment fees and treatment items provided. For dentists, the highest choices were dentist's qualifications and treatment items provided. The most favored means of dental advertising chosen by the public included newspaper, magazines, and television. For dentists, the most chosen forms of media were yellow page directory and the internet. Conclusion: This study showed that there were different views on the stance of dental advertisement from the public and dentists.