Table 1.

Types of characters and coded information

	Examples	Included in coding
Form of characters
Human
Visually shown	Human shown in still or moving images	Yes*
Not shown (1):    People referenced by    others	“Do you know anybody who's been affected by tobacco-related illnesses?“ “Yeah, my uncle and my godmother. They smoked a lot.“	Yes* (age, gender and race coded whenever available)
Not shown (2):    Voiceover	Narration such as “Quit now for your family. Call 1-800-quit-now.“	Yes* (only gender was coded)
Non-human
With human voice	Animated figure with human voice	Yes* (only gender was coded)
Without human voice	Text on screen	No
Role of characters
Smokers
Current smokers	Characters shown as smoking cigarettes; Characters talking about their smoking habits	Yes
Former smokers	Characters talking about their quitting experience	Yes
Deceased smokers	Characters revealed to have died from smoking	Yes
Persuaders	Characters explaining harms of smoking; Characters explaining benefits of quitting; Characters recommending calling quit lines;	Yes
Others	Victim of secondhand smoking, without direct mention of their views on smoking; Tobacco company executives discussing their marketing tactics	No

Note.

^*Coded only when their roles are smokers and/or persuaders