Smoking Is So Ew!: College Smokers’ Reactions to Health- Versus Social-Focused Antismoking Threat Messages

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis study utilizes Terror Management Theory (TMT) to examine differences between eliciting social death and physical death anxiety related to smoking, smoking attitudes, and quitting intent among college students. Moreover, an important TMT variable—self-esteem—was used as a moderator. A 2 × 3 between-subjects factorial design crossed smoking-based self-esteem (low, high) with mortality salience manipulation (health-focused, social-focused, control). Results suggest while both making health-focused salient and making social-focused mortality salient were effective at getting smokers to quit, there was less effect for health-focused mortality salience on those whose self-esteem is strongly tied to smoking. Effect of social-focused mortality salience was more pronounced among participants who highly linked self-esteem with smoking. For smokers with low smoking-based self-esteem, both health-focused and social-focused mortality salience were effective at motivating attitude change toward smoking and quitting intentions. Implications for smoking cessation ad design and TMT are discussed.