Table 1.
Sample Outcomes Assessed in Experimental Pictorial Warning Studies and Examples of Items/Scales
| Construct | Example Item |
|---|---|
| Attention and recall | |
| Attention attracting | Which health warning is most likely to attract your attention?1 |
| Recall of warning | Try to recall what the warning information on the package stated and type it in the box below.2 |
| Recognition of warning | Which one of the following pictures do you recall seeing on the pack of cigarettes you viewed earlier in the survey?3 |
| Warning reactions | |
| Cognitive elaboration | How much did you think about the harmful effects of smoking?4 |
| Affective reactions | How much did the warning on your cigarette packs make you feel…anxious/not anxious at all, nervous/not nervous at all, fearful/not fearful at all, uneasy/not uneasy at all, upset/not upset at all.5 |
| Credibility | The warning label is believable. The information on the warning label is truthful.6 |
| Message reactance | Participants were asked how irritated, angry, annoyed, and aggravated the warnings made them.7 |
| Knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs | |
| Smoking attitudes | Cigarettes taste good. I enjoy the taste sensations while smoking. When I smoke, the taste is pleasant. I enjoy the flavor of a cigarette. If I’m tense, a cigarette helps me relax. When I’m angry, a cigarette can calm me down. Cigarettes help me deal with anxiety or worry. Smoking calms me down when I feel nervous.8 |
| Perceived likelihood of harm | How likely do you think it is that smoking cigarettes regularly would cause you to develop each of the following [lung cancer, heart disease, mouth or throat cancer] in the next 10 years?9 |
| Perceived severity of harm | I personally consider such a health risk to be a very serious health threat. If I was exposed to such a health risk, this would have considerable consequences on my life.10 |
| Response efficacy | If I quit smoking, my risk to be threatened by such a health risk in the future, will decrease. To quit smoking would be generally an effective method to reduce the risk of such a health hazard.10 |
| Self-efficacy to quit | I believe I have the ability to quit smoking in the next month. I see myself as being capable of quitting smoking in the next month. I feel I have personal control over quitting smoking in the next month. My quitting smoking in the next month would be difficult. I am confident that I will be able to quit smoking in the next month.11 |
| Intentions | |
| Intention to not start smoking | Do you think that you will smoke a cigarette at anytime during the next year?12 |
| Intention to quit smoking | How interested are you in quitting smoking in the next month? How much do you plan to quit smoking in the next month? How likely are you to quit smoking in the next month?13 |
| Behavior | |
| Smoking behavior | During the past 21 days, since you joined the study, have you been refraining from smoking for at least 1 day?14 |
| Perceived effectiveness | |
| Motivate me to quit smoking | If you were a cigarette smoker, would the following labels make you want to quit smoking? If you were a cigarette smoker, which warning label is most likely to cause you to quit? If you were a cigarette smoker, which warning label is least likely to cause you to quit? |
| Motivate others to quit smoking | I think the design of this package of cigarettes would help discourage current college-aged female smokers to quit. I think the design of this package of cigarettes would help motivate pregnant women who normally smoke to not smoke while they are pregnant. I think the design of this package of cigarettes would help encourage pregnant women smokers to quit. |