Advertising legitimacy – an analysis of authorised and unauthorised pharmacy websites

Introduction. Online pharmacies are playing an increasingly important role for both citizens and society. In the digital landscape, both legal and illegal online pharmacies are competing for visibility and customer appeal. This article analyses the layout and characteristics of online pharmacy websites. Method. The article is based on a qualitative study of legal and illegal online pharmacy websites in Sweden. Seven Swedish nationwide pharmacy websites are analysed and fourteen illegal online pharmacies. The illegal websites were located through Google searches and lurking in Internet forums. Analysis. The analysis draws on Critical Visual Methodology and Visual Frame Analysis to analyse different framings of online pharmacy websites, focusing on their visual appearance and use of specific logos. Results. The findings illustrate that the websites of pharmacies that only exist online share visual similarities and, on the other hand, websites for pharmacies that exist online and as physical stores share similarities. Unauthorised Swedish online pharmacies can be divided into two categories (1) those mirroring authorised online pharmacies and appealing to a traditional form of medical expertise, (2) those online marketplaces that are more evidently unauthorised, often niched in the types of products they sell. Conclusions. Several visual cues distinguish legal from illegal online pharmacies. These visual cues include, but are not limited to, the presence of commercials and a wide range of products marketed. Niched unathorised online pharmacies are easier to detect as their visual elements typically feature images of drugs, not typically found on authorised online pharmacies.