Dataset Information

A Secondary Audience's Reactions to "The Real Cost" Advertisements: Results From a Study of U.S. Young Adult Smokers and Susceptible Nonsmokers.

ABSTRACT: INTRODUCTION:Exposure to "The Real Cost" campaign has prevented smoking initiation among its target audience (U.S. youth aged 12-17 years). This study examines reactions to "The Real Cost" advertisements among a potential secondary audience: U.S. young adults. METHODS:An online convenience sample of young adult (ages 18-29 years) smokers (n=225) and susceptible nonsmokers (n=339) participated in a within-subjects experiment in 2017. Participants viewed three TV ads from "The Real Cost" campaign and reported their past exposure to, conversations about, and reactions to the ads. In 2017, analyses examined message-level and person-level predictors of perceived message effectiveness using multilevel modeling. RESULTS:About half of smokers (47%) and susceptible nonsmokers (51%) had seen at least one of the three ads in the past 3 months. About one in four smokers (23%) and susceptible nonsmokers (24%) had at least one conversation about the ads in the past 3 months. Susceptible nonsmokers rated the ads higher on perceived message effectiveness than smokers (p<0.01), but lower on message relevance and negative affective reactions to the ads (both p<0.05). In both samples, ads that elicited higher negative affective reactions and message relevance, and lower message reactance (i.e., resistance) received higher perceived message effectiveness ratings (all p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS:"The Real Cost" ads have reached and generated conversations among a convenience sample of young adult smokers and susceptible nonsmokers. Increasing the perceived relevance and emotional reactions of campaigns may increase their impact. Future studies should examine reactions to "The Real Cost" campaign and effects on smoking behavior using nationally representative samples of young adults. SUPPLEMENT INFORMATION:This article is part of a supplement entitled Fifth Anniversary Retrospective of "The Real Cost," the Food and Drug Administration's Historic Youth Smoking Prevention Media Campaign, which is sponsored by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

SUBMITTER: Hall MG

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6373760 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

A Secondary Audience's Reactions to "The Real Cost" Advertisements: Results From a Study of U.S. Young Adult Smokers and Susceptible Nonsmokers.

Hall Marissa G MG Saffer Adam J AJ Noar Seth M SM

American journal of preventive medicine 20190201 2 Suppl 1

<h4>Introduction</h4>Exposure to "The Real Cost" campaign has prevented smoking initiation among its target audience (U.S. youth aged 12-17 years). This study examines reactions to "The Real Cost" advertisements among a potential secondary audience: U.S. young adults.<h4>Methods</h4>An online convenience sample of young adult (ages 18-29 years) smokers (n=225) and susceptible nonsmokers (n=339) participated in a within-subjects experiment in 2017. Participants viewed three TV ads from "The Real ...[more]

PMID: 30661527

Similar Datasets

Project description:Introduction:The cigarette stick is an important communications tool as well as the object of consumption. We explored young adults' responses to cigarettes designed to be dissuasive. Methods:Data come from a cross-sectional online survey, conducted in September 2015, with 16- to 24-year-old smokers and nonsmokers (N = 997) in the United Kingdom. Participants were shown images of a standard cigarette (white cigarette paper with imitation cork filter), a standard cigarette displaying the warning "Smoking kills" on the cigarette paper, and an unattractively colored cigarette (green cigarette paper and filter). They were asked to rate each of the three cigarettes, shown individually, on eight perception items, and to rate the three cigarettes, shown together, on how likely they would be to try them. Ordering of the cigarettes and questions, with the exception of the question on trial, was randomized. Results:The eight perception items were combined to form a composite measure of cigarette perceptions. For smokers and nonsmokers, the two dissuasive cigarettes (cigarette with warning, green cigarette) were rated significantly less favorably than the standard cigarette, and less likely to encourage trial. For cigarette perceptions, no significant interaction was detected between cigarette style and smoking status or susceptibility to smoke among never smokers. A significant interaction was found for likelihood of trying the cigarettes, with dissuasive cigarettes having a greater impact with smokers than nonsmokers. Conclusions:This study suggests that dissuasive cigarettes may help to reduce the desirability of cigarettes. Implications:The cigarette stick is the object of tobacco consumption, which is seen every time a cigarette is smoked. It is also an increasingly important promotional tool for tobacco companies. In this study, young adults rated two dissuasive cigarettes (a green colored cigarette and a cigarette displaying a health warning) more negatively than a standard cigarette, and considered them less likely to encourage product trial. Our findings suggest that it may be possible to reduce the desirability of cigarette sticks by altering their design, for example, with the addition of a warning or use of an unattractive color.

Dataset Information

A Secondary Audience's Reactions to "The Real Cost" Advertisements: Results From a Study of U.S. Young Adult Smokers and Susceptible Nonsmokers.

Publications

A Secondary Audience's Reactions to "The Real Cost" Advertisements: Results From a Study of U.S. Young Adult Smokers and Susceptible Nonsmokers.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets