Abstract
Design: A 1999 telephone survey of teenagers in households identified during a random digit dial survey of adults conducted during the prior four years. Respondents were asked to describe an ad they had seen in the past 30 days, and then to rate its perceived effectiveness.
Participants: Respondents were 733 youth between the ages of 14 and 17 years.
Intervention: The most prominent anti-tobacco advertisements broadcast in Massachusetts during the time covered by the survey consisted of those produced by the Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program and those produced by the Philip Morris tobacco company. The ads described by respondents were grouped into four categories based on their sponsor and their approach.
Main outcome measures: Perceived effectiveness of anti-tobacco advertisements seen during the month before the survey as measured on an 11 point scale.
Results: Ads featuring the serious consequences of smoking were seen as significantly more effective by youth than both Massachusetts ads that did not discuss illness (p < 0.001) and Philip Morris "Think, Don't Smoke" ads (p < 0.001).
Conclusion: Youth prevention programmes should not shy away from anti-tobacco ads that feature the serious consequences of smoking. These types of ads are the ones perceived as most effective by teenagers regardless of their smoking status, age, sex or ethnicity.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (88.8 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Biener L., McCallum-Keeler G., Nyman A. L. Adults' response to Massachusetts anti-tobacco television advertisements: impact of viewer and advertisement characteristics. Tob Control. 2000 Dec;9(4):401–407. doi: 10.1136/tc.9.4.401. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- DeJong W., Hoffman K. D. A content analysis of television advertising for the Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program media campaign, 1993-1996. J Public Health Manag Pract. 2000 May;6(3):27–39. doi: 10.1097/00124784-200006030-00006. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Goldman L. K., Glantz S. A. Evaluation of antismoking advertising campaigns. JAMA. 1998 Mar 11;279(10):772–777. doi: 10.1001/jama.279.10.772. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- McKenna J., Gutierrez K., McCall K. Strategies for an effective youth counter-marketing program: recommendations from commercial marketing experts. J Public Health Manag Pract. 2000 May;6(3):7–13. doi: 10.1097/00124784-200006030-00004. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Pechmann C., Reibling E. T. Planning an effective anti-smoking mass media campaign targeting adolescents. J Public Health Manag Pract. 2000 May;6(3):80–94. doi: 10.1097/00124784-200006030-00013. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Popham W. J., Potter L. D., Hetrick M. A., Muthén L. K., Duerr J. M., Johnson M. D. Effectiveness of the California 1990-1991 tobacco education media campaign. Am J Prev Med. 1994 Nov-Dec;10(6):319–326. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Siegel M., Biener L. The impact of an antismoking media campaign on progression to established smoking: results of a longitudinal youth study. Am J Public Health. 2000 Mar;90(3):380–386. doi: 10.2105/ajph.90.3.380. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Siegel M. Mass media antismoking campaigns: a powerful tool for health promotion. Ann Intern Med. 1998 Jul 15;129(2):128–132. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-129-2-199807150-00013. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Worden and Brian Flynn J Shock to stop? . BMJ. 1999 Jan 2;318(7175):66–66. doi: 10.1136/bmj.318.7175.66. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]