Benefits of Digital Health Advertising
THE NAI: ADVANCING RESPONSIBLE DIGITAL HEALTH ADVERTISING
Digital Health Advertising delivers many public health benefits such as earlier screenings, higher vaccination rates, and fewer preventable deaths.
01
How it works
What digital health advertising is, the two settings where Americans meet it, and the research base underneath.
02
What the Data Shows
60+ measured findings from 15+ campaigns run by federal agencies, leading nonprofits, and medical associations.
Key Takeaways
What the research shows, at a glance:
Driving greater behavior change
Health messages tailored to their audience produce significantly greater behavior change than one-size-fits-all approaches, including for smoking cessation, vaccination and cancer screening.
Source: Lustria et al., meta-analysis, J. Health Commc'n (2013)
Reaching people other channels miss
Digital campaigns can deliver health information to communities that traditional outreach has historically failed to reach.
Source: NAI, Benefits of Digital Health Advert., Section II (2026)
Moving people toward care
76% of people exposed to prescription drug advertising said they were more likely to talk with their provider about treatment options. One in four already had.
Showing results at scale
A randomized trial of 794,000 people found that tailored health ads significantly increased health information seeking, a validated indicator of later health action.
