Consumer involvement in nonprescription medicine purchase decisions.

As self-medication with nonprescription drugs becomes increasingly popular and important in this era of escalating health care costs and growing consumer sophistication, the degree of consumer involvement in the purchase decision becomes an important factor. High involvement suggests active information-seeking behavior and, therefore, a greater likelihood of appropriate nonprescription drug use. The authors assess consumer involvement in nonprescription medicine purchase decisions and the use of expert sources of information.