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Stanford Research into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising

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The message of quitting is widespread in anti-smoking advertisement and is found practically throughout every theme. Cessation ads explicitly advise their target audience to quit smoking. They offer certain objectives for quitting, including more money, improved health, and freeing up time and energy to engage in other exciting activities. These ads often acknowledge that quitting is extremely difficult, but they provide advice and support for quitting. Many of them employ an empathetic smoker-to-smoker voice that shows smokers they are not alone in their struggles.

There is also an array of cessation ads sponsored by nicotine-replacement products and other anti-smoking products. Their main purpose is not exactly aligned with public health departments’ concern for improving the well-being of the community, but rather focuses on marketing an alternative product to smokers. Many of these product-sponsored ads are more creative than the cessation ads produced by public health departments and other health organizations. This difference may reflect the inequality in funding and resources between businesses and non-profit organizations. There are some product-sponsored ads that do use tactics and persuasive messages similar to those used in public health messages, such as demonstrating incentives to quit smoking ranging from personal health and the health of children to personal beauty. However, unlike public health ads, which are persuading smokers to quit, many of these anti-smoking product ads are targeted to an audience that already wants to quit, making it unlikely that these ads make a significant difference in reducing the number of individuals attempting to quit smoking.

Cessation ads target all age groups, though they are more commonly directed towards adult smokers, because these ads have been correlated with increasing quit attempts in older age groups (1). The success of these ads begins by getting smokers to think about quitting. They then help to increase attempts to quit, often by providing a plan and/or a phone number for a support or quitline. (1, 2). In 1991, California’s antismoking campaign’s heavy focus on cessation efforts resulted in dramatic increases in calls to local health departments and quitlines (1). Many former smokers have, to some degree, attributed their decision to quit to their exposure to anti-smoking ads. In one study, 6.7% of smokers who were interviewed and uncued about the influence of antismoking ads on their decision to quit admitted that antismoking ads were the main reason they quit. When cued, 34.3% said the media campaigns were influential in their decision to quit. (3).

Cessation ads are an important component of antismoking campaigns because of their effectiveness in reducing the prevalence of smoking in the adult population. The power of the message of quitting can also be enhanced when coupled or rotated with other themes, such as anti-industry manipulation and secondhand smoke (1). Although cessation advertisements play an important role in the fight against smoking, they should not be the only antismoking campaigns in circulation. Again, the majority of adult smokers pick up the habit when they are under 18, and prevention among youth is extremely important in the fight to eliminate smoking.

REFERENCES:

1. Goldman LK, Glantz SA. Evaluation of Antismoking Advertising Campaigns. JAMA 1998; 279: 772-777.

2. Valone DM, Duke JC, Mowery PD, McCausland KL, Xiao H, Constantino JC, Asche ET, Cullen J, Allen JA. The Impact of EX: Results from a Pilot Smoking-Cessation Media Campaign. Am J Prev Med 2010; 38(3S): S312-S318

3. Popham WJ, Potter LD, Bal DG, Johnson MD, Duerr JM, Quinn V. Do Anti-Smoking Media Campaigns Help Smokers Quit? Public Health Reports 1993; 108(4): 510-513.

Patches – img12413

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The message of quitting is widespread in anti-smoking advertisement and is found practically throughout every theme. Cessation ads explicitly advise their target audience to quit smoking. They offer certain objectives for quitting, including more money, improved health, and freeing up time and energy to engage in other exciting activities. These ads often acknowledge that quitting is extremely difficult, but they provide advice and support for quitting. Many of them employ an empathetic smoker-to-smoker voice that shows smokers they are not alone in their struggles.

There is also an array of cessation ads sponsored by nicotine-replacement products and other anti-smoking products. Their main purpose is not exactly aligned with public health departments’ concern for improving the well-being of the community, but rather focuses on marketing an alternative product to smokers. Many of these product-sponsored ads are more creative than the cessation ads produced by public health departments and other health organizations. This difference may reflect the inequality in funding and resources between businesses and non-profit organizations. There are some product-sponsored ads that do use tactics and persuasive messages similar to those used in public health messages, such as demonstrating incentives to quit smoking ranging from personal health and the health of children to personal beauty. However, unlike public health ads, which are persuading smokers to quit, many of these anti-smoking product ads are targeted to an audience that already wants to quit, making it unlikely that these ads make a significant difference in reducing the number of individuals attempting to quit smoking.

Cessation ads target all age groups, though they are more commonly directed towards adult smokers, because these ads have been correlated with increasing quit attempts in older age groups (1). The success of these ads begins by getting smokers to think about quitting. They then help to increase attempts to quit, often by providing a plan and/or a phone number for a support or quitline. (1, 2). In 1991, California’s antismoking campaign’s heavy focus on cessation efforts resulted in dramatic increases in calls to local health departments and quitlines (1). Many former smokers have, to some degree, attributed their decision to quit to their exposure to anti-smoking ads. In one study, 6.7% of smokers who were interviewed and uncued about the influence of antismoking ads on their decision to quit admitted that antismoking ads were the main reason they quit. When cued, 34.3% said the media campaigns were influential in their decision to quit. (3).

Cessation ads are an important component of antismoking campaigns because of their effectiveness in reducing the prevalence of smoking in the adult population. The power of the message of quitting can also be enhanced when coupled or rotated with other themes, such as anti-industry manipulation and secondhand smoke (1). Although cessation advertisements play an important role in the fight against smoking, they should not be the only antismoking campaigns in circulation. Again, the majority of adult smokers pick up the habit when they are under 18, and prevention among youth is extremely important in the fight to eliminate smoking.

REFERENCES:

1. Goldman LK, Glantz SA. Evaluation of Antismoking Advertising Campaigns. JAMA 1998; 279: 772-777.

2. Valone DM, Duke JC, Mowery PD, McCausland KL, Xiao H, Constantino JC, Asche ET, Cullen J, Allen JA. The Impact of EX: Results from a Pilot Smoking-Cessation Media Campaign. Am J Prev Med 2010; 38(3S): S312-S318

3. Popham WJ, Potter LD, Bal DG, Johnson MD, Duerr JM, Quinn V. Do Anti-Smoking Media Campaigns Help Smokers Quit? Public Health Reports 1993; 108(4): 510-513.

Hideous – img12936

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The tobacco industry invests heavily in marketing their products and spends billions of dollars each year to ensure their advertisements are effective in recruiting new smokers and maintaining the loyalty of veteran smokers (1). These ads have played a huge role in shaping the image of the smoker into someone positive and desirable. The men in these ads are portrayed as masculine, charismatic, and desirable to women, while the women featured in the ads are beautiful, sexy, and independent. Since the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act in 1970 banned cigarette advertisements from American radio and television and the 1997 Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement further regulated tobacco advertising, tobacco ads are much less prominent in the media. However, advertisements have not completely disappeared from magazines, point-of-sale store windows, and mailers. Furthermore, the image of the smoker as a rebel lives on in the media, reflected with high visibility in rock stars and in movies. When millions of people see these beautiful and talented celebrities smoking, it’s difficult for young people to believe these cigarettes can make anyone unattractive.

The anti-tobacco advertisements in this theme attempt to counter that very notion. According to the ads in this theme, “smoking makes you ugly.” Smoking can make a person physically ugly by changing the person’s appearance, such as discoloring teeth, aging skin,or causing bad breath. Smoking can also make a person unattractive socially, and these ads try to convince their audience that, contrary to tobacco industry advertisements, cigarettes do not make a person look sexy.

Aspects that affect the social image of adolescents are significant factors in many of the decisions and actions adolescents make. Being attractive to the opposite sex is related to social image, and for some middle adolescents (high school age), smoking is thought to make this goal more attainable (2, 3). Thus, young smokers are susceptible to the portrayal of smokers as attractive in the media, and it is important to address this in anti-smoking campaigns.

However, the theme of attractiveness has similar qualities to ads that stress long-term health effects and social image. Unfortunately, these kinds of ads seem to have limited effectiveness on the youth population. According to Goldman & Glantz 1998, ads that stress the long-term effects of smoking are moderately effective among adults, but not effective on youth populations (4). Most young smokers are aware of the health threats of smoking but, at the moment, they see no signs of these effects in themselves or in their peers, and it is difficult for them to find truth in what appear to be empty threats. Adolescents often feel invincible and many believe they will be able to quit before they are affected. Ads that threaten romantic rejection by smoking, which is implied in many of these ads about attractiveness and appearance, have been found to be ineffective in either youth or adult populations (4). Anti-smoking messages that attempt to denormalize smoking need to show teens, rather than tell them, that smoking does not improve their social image.

One other point to consider about these anti-smoking ads is the attractiveness level of the model. People are more willing to overlook negative habits like smoking when a person is attractive. If the model is more attractive in the ad, the ad will also be better recalled. Thus, these ads may be more effective if they show the transformation of a beautiful person into someone hideous as a result of smoking. The transformation must be something believable, like a personal testament or before-and-after pictures, because the claims must override what people see in reality, which are usually no immediate effects from smoking (5).

REFERENCES:

1. Aloise-Young PA, Hennigan KM, Graham JW. Role of the Self-Image and Smoker
Stereotype in Smoking Onset During Early Adolescence: A Longitudinal Study. Health Psychology 1996; 15(6): 494-497.

2. Barton J, Chassin L, Presson CC, Sherman SJ. Social Image Factors as Motivators of
Smoking Initiation in Early and Middle Adolescence. Child Development 1982; 53(6): 1499-1511.

3. Federal Trade Commission. Cigarette Report for 2006. Issued August 2009.
4.Goldman LK, Glantz SA. Evaluation of Antismoking Advertising Campaigns. JAMA
1998; 279: 772-777.

4.Shadel WG, Craig SF, Tharp-Taylor S. Uncovering the most effective active
ingredients of antismoking public service announcements: The role of actor and message characteristics. Nicotine Tob Res 2009; 11(5): 547-552.

Hideous – img13341

by

The tobacco industry invests heavily in marketing their products and spends billions of dollars each year to ensure their advertisements are effective in recruiting new smokers and maintaining the loyalty of veteran smokers (1). These ads have played a huge role in shaping the image of the smoker into someone positive and desirable. The men in these ads are portrayed as masculine, charismatic, and desirable to women, while the women featured in the ads are beautiful, sexy, and independent. Since the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act in 1970 banned cigarette advertisements from American radio and television and the 1997 Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement further regulated tobacco advertising, tobacco ads are much less prominent in the media. However, advertisements have not completely disappeared from magazines, point-of-sale store windows, and mailers. Furthermore, the image of the smoker as a rebel lives on in the media, reflected with high visibility in rock stars and in movies. When millions of people see these beautiful and talented celebrities smoking, it’s difficult for young people to believe these cigarettes can make anyone unattractive.

The anti-tobacco advertisements in this theme attempt to counter that very notion. According to the ads in this theme, “smoking makes you ugly.” Smoking can make a person physically ugly by changing the person’s appearance, such as discoloring teeth, aging skin,or causing bad breath. Smoking can also make a person unattractive socially, and these ads try to convince their audience that, contrary to tobacco industry advertisements, cigarettes do not make a person look sexy.

Aspects that affect the social image of adolescents are significant factors in many of the decisions and actions adolescents make. Being attractive to the opposite sex is related to social image, and for some middle adolescents (high school age), smoking is thought to make this goal more attainable (2, 3). Thus, young smokers are susceptible to the portrayal of smokers as attractive in the media, and it is important to address this in anti-smoking campaigns.

However, the theme of attractiveness has similar qualities to ads that stress long-term health effects and social image. Unfortunately, these kinds of ads seem to have limited effectiveness on the youth population. According to Goldman & Glantz 1998, ads that stress the long-term effects of smoking are moderately effective among adults, but not effective on youth populations (4). Most young smokers are aware of the health threats of smoking but, at the moment, they see no signs of these effects in themselves or in their peers, and it is difficult for them to find truth in what appear to be empty threats. Adolescents often feel invincible and many believe they will be able to quit before they are affected. Ads that threaten romantic rejection by smoking, which is implied in many of these ads about attractiveness and appearance, have been found to be ineffective in either youth or adult populations (4). Anti-smoking messages that attempt to denormalize smoking need to show teens, rather than tell them, that smoking does not improve their social image.

One other point to consider about these anti-smoking ads is the attractiveness level of the model. People are more willing to overlook negative habits like smoking when a person is attractive. If the model is more attractive in the ad, the ad will also be better recalled. Thus, these ads may be more effective if they show the transformation of a beautiful person into someone hideous as a result of smoking. The transformation must be something believable, like a personal testament or before-and-after pictures, because the claims must override what people see in reality, which are usually no immediate effects from smoking (5).

REFERENCES:

1. Aloise-Young PA, Hennigan KM, Graham JW. Role of the Self-Image and Smoker
Stereotype in Smoking Onset During Early Adolescence: A Longitudinal Study. Health Psychology 1996; 15(6): 494-497.

2. Barton J, Chassin L, Presson CC, Sherman SJ. Social Image Factors as Motivators of
Smoking Initiation in Early and Middle Adolescence. Child Development 1982; 53(6): 1499-1511.

3. Federal Trade Commission. Cigarette Report for 2006. Issued August 2009.
4.Goldman LK, Glantz SA. Evaluation of Antismoking Advertising Campaigns. JAMA
1998; 279: 772-777.

4.Shadel WG, Craig SF, Tharp-Taylor S. Uncovering the most effective active
ingredients of antismoking public service announcements: The role of actor and message characteristics. Nicotine Tob Res 2009; 11(5): 547-552.