Free-Riding for the Common Good? Generics, Biosimilars and References to Originator Trademarks in Comparative Advertising in France

Generic and biosimilar medicines are fiscally advantageous products in relation to which the generally applicable EU rules governing comparative advertising seemingly conflict with national healthcare policy. This article argues that the permissive stance of the French courts on the use of the trademarked names of originator medicines in advertising for generics appears inconsistent with the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union as it stands in relation to Art. 4(f) of Directive 2006/114/EC on misleading and comparative advertising. This gives rise to an undesirable divergence in the application of the Directive between Member States, suggesting that further guidance is needed on the application of the provision to generic-originator comparisons. It is submitted that treating generic drugs with particular leniency is unjustified given the detrimental effect the use of originator trademarks by the marketers of generics and biosimilars may have on the ability of the originator trademark to stimulate investment into manufacturing quality. The issue of the degree to which the use of originator trademarks in advertising promoting generics and biosimilars should be permitted serves as a poignant example of the delicate balance required for comparative advertising to increase consumer choice whilst simultaneously protecting competitors from advertising that may ultimately be detrimental to undistorted competition in the Single Market.

The impacts of comparative ads used by retailers to compare their store brands with national brands

PurposeThe research aim is to investigate the impacts of comparative ads used by retailers to compare the prices of their store brand (SB) products with those of equivalent national brand (NB) products. More specifically, this research examines if consumers perceive retailers as legitimate when they use comparative ads to compare the prices of their SB products to those of equivalent NB products, and how effective are these comparative ads in terms of actual purchases. This research also explores for which SB type (economy, standard or premium) and consumers are comparative ads most effective.Design/methodology/approachThis research investigates consumers' reactions to comparative ads used by retailers to compare the prices of their SB products with those of similar NB products through an experiment within a store laboratory. A between-subject design has been used. The participants of the first/second/third group (n1 = 93/n2 = 92/n3 = 91) were exposed to ads comparing the prices of retailer's economy/standard/premium SB food products with their equivalent NB food products, in the same product category. The participants of each group carried out a shopping trip in the store laboratory.FindingsConsumers consider retailers legitimate when they use comparative ads. This favourable evaluation improves their attitude towards these ads. However, the impact of retailers' legitimacy of (1) means, (2) objectives and (3) historical legitimacy on consumers' attitude towards comparative ads depends on the SB type (economy, standard and premium). By contrast, comparative ads are effective in terms of consumers' attitude towards these ads and towards SBs, along with purchase intention and actual purchases of these brands, whatever the SB type. Lastly, this research highlights that comparative ads for SBs are mainly directed at consumers with high levels of price consciousness and resistance to NBs.Research limitations/implicationsThis research only tested the impact of direct comparative advertising and an extrinsic attribute (price). The research experiment was conducted on a convenience sample, which limits its external validity.Practical implicationsThis research encourages retailers to use comparative advertising for their SBs (economy, standard and premium) for several reasons. First, this study suggests that comparative advertising is an effective tool for retailers to shape or improve consumers' attitude towards SBs, via their attitude towards comparative ads. Second, this research proposes that comparative advertising contrasting the prices of SB products with those of NB products could increase retailers' in-store sales of their SBs. Lastly, this research underlines that comparative advertising is particularly effective for consumers with high levels of price consciousness and resistance to NBs.Originality/valueThis research supplements previous research in the field of SBs and comparative advertising. Previous research on comparative advertising has examined NBs exclusively (Dianoux et al., 2013; Beard, 2018). Comparisons between SBs and NBs are lacking. This research thus validates the use of this specific form of communication for SBs, given the paucity of studies of the effects of the use of mass media communication on SBs (Nenycz-Thiel and Romaniuk, 2014; Gendel-Guterman and Levy, 2017).

Comparative Advertising: Proposed Guidelines for Middle Marketers

This article presents a review of comparative advertising from a theoretical perspective and uses a combination of literature review and content analysis as a research methodology. The main objective of the article is to propose a legislative framework for marketers in the Middle East for using comparative advertising. Advertising plays a significant role in promoting and marketing products and brands. Comparative advertising affects consumer behaviour, decision making and consumerism following the ethical standards of advertising which control the form of competition between products which affects the brand image and the relation between consumers and the products. While competition between brands becomes hostile in some cases, the purpose of competitive or comparative advertising is to compare the entity of a product to the entity of its competitor on the basis of one or more product characteristics, as part of an advertising campaign. Known to have two different types: direct and indirect, where the name of the competitor is specifically mentioned, and superiority is established over them within the direct form, as for the indirect the product places superiority over its competitors without explicitly mentioning the name, which is widely seen in the Middle East advertising campaigns. This research aims to study the ethical standards of comparative advertising, implications of direct comparative advertising on consumer behaviour through content analysis of comparative ads to set guidelines for using other product’s name or trademark in advertising within the Middle East. The lack of availability of the empirical data on comparative advertising in the Middle Easts presents both a challenge and an opportunity for academicians. The paper concludes with the notion that comparative advertising is an effective way to attract consumers, and it is recommended to be used in the Middle East with the proposed guidelines.