Anti-smoking Public Service Announcements Research Articles

The picture of smoking in my mind: a need for effective anti-smoking public service announcements based on the self-construals of smokers.

This qualitative study sought to understand the behaviours of smokers with independent and interdependent self-construals to design effective anti-smoking public service announcements (PSAs). Findings from the participants' narratives and drawings suggest that individualistic message content (focused on the individual smoker) can be effective for smokers with independent self-construal, while collectivistic message content (focused on a smoker group) can be effective for smokers with interdependent self-construal to increase their quitting intentions. This study also revealed characteristics of the smoker groups in terms of routines, meanings and symbolic values of smoking, which can be used to enrich the contents for anti-smoking PSAs. The implications of this study are discussed for public policy makers and nonprofit organizations that seek to match their message with the audience to improve public health.

Smoking self-concept moderates the effects of self-affirmation on smoking-related beliefs and behavioral intentions

Objective Smoking stigmatization has been shown to hinder cigarette smoking cessation, especially among individuals with a strong smoker identity. Self-affirmation, a psychological threat-management coping strategy, can promote smoking cessation, and may mitigate the adverse consequences of stigmatization. Design Data from an online sample of 1,020 U.S. adult smokers were analyzed using multiple linear regression. Main Outcome Measures Participants completed a self-affirmation (or no-affirmation control) writing task before viewing a smoking stigma (or non-stigma control) anti-smoking public service announcement video. Participants then reported smoking-related cognitions and behavioral intentions. Results Among participants with strong—but not weak—ties to a smoker identity (smoking self-concept), self-affirming led to higher quit intentions compared to the control condition. Among participants with weak—but not strong—smoking self-concepts, those who self-affirmed had lower intentions to switch completely to e-cigarettes relative to the control condition. Exposure to stigmatization reduced intentions to seek cessation counseling, particularly among those with weak smoking self-concepts. Conclusion Findings demonstrate the critical role that smoking identity centrality plays in moderating reactions to both affirming and stigmatizing stimuli. Additional research is needed to better understand how self-affirmation and stigma-reduction interventions can be tailored and implemented in natural contexts.

The Effects of Negative-Framed Antismoking Public Service Announcements Pertain to Health Risks on High School Students

The major aim of this study was to determine the opinion of high school students regarding negative-framed antismoking Public Service Announcements (PSAs) on health risks. The data were collected from 884 students attended in twelve high schools in Ipekyolu district of Van Province, Turkey. The findings showed that the PSAs affected the manners of the students positively in smoking cases such as intending to quit smoking, being more conscious about the harms of smoking and warning smokers. The effects of PSAs were found to be more effective on male students than female, non-smoker students than smoker parent on students who have non-smoker parents than those who have at least one smoker parent. The results indicated that special attention should be given to individual factors when producing such kinds of PSAs.

Neurophysiological Measures of the Perception of Antismoking Public Service Announcements Among Young Population.

Tobacco constitutes a global emergency with totally preventable millions of deaths per year and smoking-related illnesses. Public service announcements (PSAs) are the main tool against smoking and by now their efficacy is still assessed through questionnaires and metrics, only months after their circulation. The present study focused on the young population, because at higher risk of developing tobacco addiction, investigating the reaction to the vision of Effective, Ineffective and Awarded antismoking PSAs through: electroencephalography (EEG), autonomic activity variation (Galvanic skin response—GSR- and Heart Rate—HR-) and Eye-Tracking (ET). The employed indices were: the EEG frontal alpha band asymmetry and the frontal theta; the Emotional Index (EI), deriving from the GSR and HR signals matching; the ET Visual Attention (VA) index, based on the ratio between the total time spent fixating an area of interest (AOI) and its area. Smokers expressed higher frontal alpha asymmetry values in comparison to non-smokers. Concerning frontal theta, Awarded PSAs reported the highest values in comparison to both Effective and Ineffective PSAs. EI results highlighted that lowest values were expressed by Heavy Smokers (HS), and Effective PSAs obtained the highest EI values. Finally, concerning the Effective PSAs, regression analysis highlighted a correlation between the number of cigarettes smoked by participants (independent variable) and frontal alpha asymmetry, frontal theta and EI values. ET results suggested that for the Ineffective PSAs the main focus were texts, while for the Effective and Awarded PSAs were the visual elements. Results support the use of methods aimed at assessing the physiological reaction for the evaluation of PSAs images, in particular when considering the smoking habits of target populations.

Effects of exposure to anti-vaping public service announcements among current smokers and dual users of cigarettes and electronic nicotine delivery systems

IntroductionAnti-vaping public service announcements (PSAs) are intended to discourage vaping or use of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS). However, vaping portrayals in PSAs may have unintended effects if they increase smoking or vaping urges. This study examined benefits and unintended effects of anti-vaping PSAs with vapor portrayals on smoking and vaping-related outcomes. MethodsYoung adult smokers (N = 171) and dual users (N = 122) aged 21–30 years were randomly assigned to view: 1) anti-vaping PSAs with vapor; 2) anti-vaping PSAs without vapor; 3) physical activity PSAs; or 4) anti-smoking PSAs with smoking cues. Outcomes were changes in vaping and smoking urges before and after viewing PSAs, post-test vaping and smoking intentions in the next hour, and post-test intention to purchase ENDS and traditional cigarettes. ResultsSmokers only: Exposure to anti-vaping PSAs with vapor (vs. physical activity) was associated with lower intention to vape and to purchase ENDS (ps < 0.001) and lower intention to smoke and purchase cigarettes (ps < 0.05). Exposure to anti-vaping PSAs with vapor (vs. PSAs without vapor and vs. anti-smoking PSAs with smoking cues) was associated with lower intention to vape in the next hour (ps < 0.05). Exposure to anti-vaping PSAs without vapor (vs. physical activity) was associated with lower change in vaping urge (p < 0.05) and intention to purchase ENDS (p < 0.001). Dual users: Exposure to anti-vaping PSAs without vapor (vs. anti-smoking PSAs) was associated with lower intention to purchase ENDS (p < 0.05). ConclusionViewing anti-vaping PSAs with vapor was not associated with unintended effects and may have benefits on reducing smoking and vaping-related outcomes.

Effects of Anti-Smoking Public Service Announcements on the Attitudes of Korean College Students toward Smoking.

ObjectivesThis study aimed to identify the effects of anti-smoking public service announcements on the attitudes of Korean college students toward smoking.MethodsThis study involved students via convenience sampling from seven universities who were randomly assigned to four groups. All groups completed a preliminary questionnaire, before being shown a public service announcement twice, and then completed a post viewing questionnaire.ResultsFor announcements with positive messages, the proportion of changes in beliefs and attitudes were 39.1% and 19.8%, respectively, whereas those with negative messages showed a greater proportion of changes in the beliefs (59.7%) and attitudes (40.3%). After adjusting for sex and change in belief, the message types and smoking status were identified as factors affecting the change in the participants attitudes. A negative message resulted in a greater change in attitudes (odds ratio [OR], 3.047; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.847–5.053). Ever-smokers including current smokers showed a greater positive change in attitude than never-smokers (OR, 6.965; 95% CI, 4.107–11.812).ConclusionThis study found that positive anti-smoking public service announcements were more effective on attitude change than negative messages. Additionally these announcements were more effective among viewers who were current smokers or had a prior smoking experience.

Electroencephalographic, Heart Rate, and Galvanic Skin Response Assessment for an Advertising Perception Study: Application to Antismoking Public Service Announcements.

The evaluation of advertising, products, and packaging is traditionally performed through methods based on self-reports and focus groups, but these approaches often appear poorly accurate in scientific terms. Neuroscience is increasingly applied to the investigation of the neurophysiological bases of the perception of and reaction to commercial stimuli to support traditional marketing methods. In this context, a particular sector or marketing is represented by public service announcements (PSAs). The objective of this protocol is to apply electroencephalography (EEG) and autonomic signal analysis to study responses to selected antismoking PSAs. Two EEG indices were employed: the frontal alpha band EEG asymmetry (the Approach Withdrawal (AW) index) and the frontal theta (effort index). Furthermore, the autonomic Emotional Index (EI) was calculated, as derived from the Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) and Heart Rate (HR) signals. The present protocol describes a series of operational and computational steps required to properly estimate, through the aforementioned indices, the emotional and cerebral reaction of a group of subjects towards a selected number of antismoking PSAs. In particular, a campaign characterized by a symbolic communication style (classified as "awarded" on the basis of the prizes received by specialized committees) obtained the highest approach values, as estimated by the AW index. A spot and an image belonging to the same PSA campaign based on the "fear arousing appeal" and with a narrative/experiential communication style (classified as "effective" on the basis of the economical/health-related improvements promoted) reported the lowest and highest effort values, respectively. This is probably due to the complexity of the storytelling (spot) and to the immediateness of the image (a lady who underwent a tracheotomy). Finally, the same "effective" campaign showed the highest EI values, possibly because of the empathy induced by the testimonial and the explicitness of the message.

Electroencephalographic, Heart Rate, and Galvanic Skin Response Assessment for an Advertising Perception Study: Application to Antismoking Public Service Announcements

The evaluation of advertising, products, and packaging is traditionally performed through methods based on self-reports and focus groups, but these approaches often appear poorly accurate in scientific terms. Neuroscience is increasingly applied to the investigation of the neurophysiological bases of the perception of and reaction to commercial stimuli to support traditional marketing methods. In this context, a particular sector or marketing is represented by public service announcements (PSAs). The objective of this protocol is to apply electroencephalography (EEG) and autonomic signal analysis to study responses to selected antismoking PSAs. Two EEG indices were employed: the frontal alpha band EEG asymmetry (the Approach Withdrawal (AW) index) and the frontal theta (effort index). Furthermore, the autonomic Emotional Index (EI) was calculated, as derived from the Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) and Heart Rate (HR) signals. The present protocol describes a series of operational and computational steps required to properly estimate, through the aforementioned indices, the emotional and cerebral reaction of a group of subjects towards a selected number of antismoking PSAs. In particular, a campaign characterized by a symbolic communication style (classified as "awarded" on the basis of the prizes received by specialized committees) obtained the highest approach values, as estimated by the AW index. A spot and an image belonging to the same PSA campaign based on the "fear arousing appeal" and with a narrative/experiential communication style (classified as "effective" on the basis of the economical/health-related improvements promoted) reported the lowest and highest effort values, respectively. This is probably due to the complexity of the storytelling (spot) and to the immediateness of the image (a lady who underwent a tracheotomy). Finally, the same "effective" campaign showed the highest EI values, possibly because of the empathy induced by the testimonial and the explicitness of the message.

An eye tracking index for the salience estimation in visual stimuli.

Every day we face visual stimuli able to catch our attention, but this aspect becomes crucial if the visual material has the purpose to spread a message aimed at engaging the observer. In this framework, a worthy aspect is how to measure the "visual engagement" produced by visual stimuli exposure. To this purpose, in the present study, employing the eye tracking technique, an index of visual attention (VA) has been proposed, and applied to pictures belonging to antismoking public service announcements, so to investigate the saliency of health-promoting messages in a young sample. The VA index is a non-dimensional index, defined as the ratio between the percentage of the total time spent fixating an area of interest (AOI) weighted on the total time the picture is showed on the screen, and the percentage of the area occupied by the AOI weighted on the total dimension of the picture. It could be predicted that AOI reporting higher VA values will be the ones having more saliency. Three antismoking Public Service Announcements (PSAs) images have been selected for the study and for each of them were identified: i) "picture" (such as a young man with a sarcastic expression depicted while smoking a cigarette, or the image of a lady who underwent a tracheotomy) and ii) "writing" (text of the antismoking message) AOIs. Main results of the analysis revealed that writing AOIs obtained statistically significant higher VA values than visual AOIs (p=0.03), but these held true only for an ineffective PSA, probably because the text was not perceived as pertinent with the surrounding image. On the other hand, an effective PSA obtained higher VA values in response to visual than writing AOIs observation (p=0.02). The VA index appears therefore to represent a useful tool to measure the saliency of visual stimuli elements.

ЛИНГВОГРАФИЧЕСКИЕ ОСОБЕННОСТИ антитабачной СОЦИАЛЬНОЙ РЕКЛАМЫ НА РУССКОМ И АНГЛИЙСКОМ ЯЗЫКЕ

ЛИНГВОГРАФИЧЕСКИЕ ОСОБЕННОСТИ антитабачной СОЦИАЛЬНОЙ РЕКЛАМЫ НА РУССКОМ И АНГЛИЙСКОМ ЯЗЫКЕ

The impact of smoking cues in antismoking messages among intermittent and light smokers

Objective: Based on the Limited Capacity Model of Motivated Mediated Message Processing, this study explored the effects of smoking cues in antismoking Public Service Announcements (PSAs) on message processing among intermittent/light smokers and nonsmokers.Method: A 2 (smoking cues: present vs. absent) × 2 (smoking status: smokers vs. nonsmokers) mixed experimental design was conducted. Self-report measures and two physiological measures including skin conductance and heart rate were examined.Results: Messages with smoking cues generated higher levels of arousal (F = 4.57, p = .04), attention (F = 2.51, p = .04), positive message evaluation (F = 28.70, p < .001) and less intent to smoke (F = 26.60, p < .001). Intermittent and light smokers had much stronger reactions to messages containing tobacco-related visuals, including arousal (F = 4.10, p = .04), perceived ad effectiveness (F = 9.24, p = .03) and intent to smoke (F = 22.98, p < .001).Implication: The antismoking arguments may have suppressed cue-induced smoking urges, which dampened negative persuasion outcomes. Limitations included the restricted generalisability and the focus on short-term effect. Future research may use a random sample of PSAs with a general population.

A pilot study on the neurometric evaluation of "effective" and "ineffective" antismoking public service announcements.

Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death and smoking-related illness worldwide. Research has shown that antismoking advertising may help reduce this habit. Nowadays, public service announcements (PSAs) are considered "Effective" or "Ineffective" on the base of official reports concerning behavioral/attitudinal changes toward healthier patterns and health-related savings following the exposure to the PSA. In this pilot study, we described the results of the use of three neurometric indexes for the evaluation of the efficacy of a couple of antismoking PSAs in a reduced sample of voluntary participants. The study applied the gathering of the electroencephalographic (EEG) rhythms variations, as well as the heart rate (HR) and galvanic skin response (GSR). The neurometric indicators here employed were the Approach-Withdrawal (AW), the Effort (EfI) and the Emotional (EI) indexes. Results suggest a significant higher values for AW, Effort and Emotional indexes (p=0,02; p= 0,03 and p= 0,01 respectively) related to the perception of the "Effective" antismoking PSAs against the perception of the "Ineffective" one. Since this is a pilot study, the results obtained need further investigation, in terms of enlarged stimuli sample and number of participants to provide indications concerning the relevant features to be included in the realization of effective anti-smoking PSAs.

An Examination of Adolescent Recall of Anti-Smoking Messages: Attitudes, Message Type, and Message Perceptions

ABSTRACTDelayed message recall may be influenced by currently held accessible attitudes, the nature of the message, and message perceptions (perception of bias and message elaboration). This study examined the potential of message perceptions to mediate the influence of valenced attitude accessibility and message type on unaided recall of anti-smoking Public Service Announcements (PSAs). In a field experiment, ninth grade students (N = 244) watched three PSAs and responded to items on laptop computers. Twelve weeks later, follow-up telephone surveys were conducted to assess unaided recall. Both valenced attitude accessibility and message type were associated with message perceptions. However, only perception of message bias partially mediated the relationship between message type and unaided recall.

Teens’ Reactance to Anti-Smoking Public Service Announcements: How Norms Set the Stage

Data from a study of the effects of anti-smoking ads were analyzed. This study measured the accessibility of peer and parent norms for smoking, exposed teens to three anti-smoking ads that either emphasized personal narratives of the dangers of smoking or had a surprise ending, and measured reactance to the messages. Readiness to smoke was assessed via a phone survey 3 months later. The accessibility of pro-smoking peer norms increased readiness to engage in smoking behavior through reactance toward anti-smoking messages. The accessibility of parent norms was unrelated to reactance. Reactance was particularly strong when the ads included a surprise ending. Peer norms that oppose smoking, particularly if they can be brought to mind quickly, are an important protective factor in that they may reduce reactance to anti-smoking messages.

Against smoking public service announcements, a neurometric evaluation of effectiveness

Event Abstract Back to Event Against smoking public service announcements, a neurometric evaluation of effectiveness Giulia Cartocci1*, Anton Giulio Maglione1, Enrica Modica1, Dario Rossi1, Patrizia Cherubino2 and Fabio Babiloni1 1 Sapienza University of Rome, Italy 2 Brainsigns srl, Italy Tobacco causes more than 6 million of deaths per year [CDC website] use is the leading cause of preventable death and smoking-related illness worldwide. Research has shown that antismoking advertising may help reduce this habit [Bala et al. 2013]. Nowadays, public service announcements (PSAs) are considered “Effective” or “Ineffective” on the base of official reports concerning behavioral/attitudinal changes toward healthier patterns and health-related savings following the exposure to the PSA [e.g. Atusingwize et al. 2015]. Nevertheless, several studies suggest that the analysis of neurophysiologic signals variations in response to advertising can provide insights into subjects’ emotional and cognitive reaction to them [Astolfi et al. 2008, Vecchiato et al. 2011a, Vecchiato et al. 2011b, Cherubino et al. 2016]. In the present pilot study three neurometric indexes have been used for the evaluation of the efficacy of antismoking PSAs in a reduced sample of voluntary participants. The study applied the gathering of the electroencephalographic (EEG) rhythms variations, as well as the heart rate (HR) and galvanic skin response (GSR). The neurometric indicators here employed, previously used in several studies concerning TV commercials evaluation [Vecchiato et al. 2012, Vecchiato et al. 2014, Maglione et al. 2015], were: the Approach-Withdrawal (AW), the Effort (Eff) and the Emotional indexes (EI). ANOVA results suggested a significant higher values for AW , Effort and Emotional indexes (p=0,02; p= 0,03 and p= 0,01 respectively) related to the perception of the “Effective” antismoking PSA against the perception of the “Ineffective” one (Fig.1). Furthermore, behavioral data were collected, asking subjects, at the end of the recording session, to list all the advertisements they remember to have just watched. Subsequently they were asked to rate the advertisements they remembered assigning a score from 0 to 10. Behavioral results showed that 71.43% of the participants remembered the Effective PSA while only the 14.28% of the subjects remembered the Ineffective one. The Effective PSA reported an average score of 8±d.s.2.34 (with one subject rating the Effective PSA 4 and all the other subjects rating it between 8 and 10). The Ineffective PSA was remembered by 1 participant and the assigned rate was 5. A logistic regression analysis was then performed only between the Effective PSA recall values and each of the indexes; a statistical significance was reported for EI values (p=0.004), but not for the AW (p=0.19) or the Eff (p=0.76) indexes. Similarly, a correlation between rating scores of the Effective PSA and the estimated neurometric indexes values has been performed, but it didn’t reach the statistical significance: Eff (r=0.35), EI (r=0.09), AW (r=0.30). The sum the results here presented, support the observation that the neurometric approach to the study of anti-smoking PSAs revealed to be consistent with the classification of effectiveness based on behavioral and economic data. Since this is a pilot study, the results obtained need further investigation, in terms of enlarged stimuli sample and number of participants to provide indications concerning a possible neurometric pattern of the relevant features to be included in the realization of effective anti-smoking PSAs. Figure 1 Acknowledgements The present work was supported in part by the European Commission by Horizon2020 project HCO-06-2015, “SmokeFreeBrain”, GA n. 681120. Authors thank the students and the personnel of Residenza Universitaria Don Bosco of Rome for their availability.

Targeting Smokers With Empathy Appeal Antismoking Public Service Announcements: A Field Experiment

A field experiment study (N = 189) was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of empathy appeal antismoking messages and their potential advantage over fear appeal messages. Data from 12 antismoking public service announcements showed that (a) smokers resist antismoking messages and (b) overall empathy appeal was equally effective as fear appeal messages. There was also evidence for moderators. First, empathy messages were more effective to women than to men. Second, fear appeal messages were more effective to occasional smokers than were empathy messages. Third, empathy messages were more effective to regular smokers than were fear appeal messages. Implications for audience segmentation and message targeting in public health antismoking efforts are discussed.

Stimulating dialogue: measuring success of the "Smoke Free Horry" campaign.

Smoke Free Horry was an anti-secondhand smoke media campaign that ran in Horry County, South Carolina in 2011 and 2012. The present study assessed the campaign's ability to stimulate interpersonal dialogue about the campaign-specifically its four television public service announcements (PSAs)-as well as about other smoking-related topics, among a sample of 285 Horry County young adults. Survey data suggested talking about anti-smoking PSAs was related to subsequent discussion about smoking-related topics and positive perceptions of the campaign's effectiveness. PSAs using emotional appeals and that discussed the negative health effects of smoking/secondhand smoke were related to the most interpersonal discussions about smoking, secondhand smoking, and smoking bans. Implications for future anti-smoking campaign design are discussed.

The role of collectivism orientation in differential normative mechanisms: A cross-national study of anti-smoking public service announcement effectiveness

The purpose of this study is to explicate the complexities of the mechanism through which norm messages achieve their intended goals, and to examine how the normative mechanism differs according to the collectivism orientation of two culturally distinct countries. To analyze data collected from 464 US and Korean college students, it uses the O-S-O-R approach, which represents four elements of the communication process – (pre) Orientation-Stimuli-(post) Orientation-Response. Multi-group path analysis yields three major findings. First, collectivism orientation is significantly related to injunctive norm perception (INP) only among Korean respondents. Second, descriptive norm perceptions (DNP) and INP as post-orientations lead to behavioural intention through different mechanisms. That is, INP leads to behavioural intention directly regardless of types of norm messages and country, but indirectly through issue importance only in the IN message condition among the US. participants. By contrast, DNP leads to behavioural intention only directly, except for the DN message condition among the US participants in which there is no such significant relationship. Third, the normative mechanism was more rigorous and consistent among Koreans than Americans.

Changing implicit attitudes toward smoking: results from a web-based approach-avoidance practice intervention.

Implicit attitudes have been shown to predict smoking behaviors. Therefore, an important goal is the development of interventions to change these attitudes. This study assessed the effects of a web-based intervention on implicit attitudes toward smoking and receptivity to smoking-related information. Smokers (N = 284) were recruited to a two-session web-based study. In the first session, baseline data were collected. Session two contained the intervention, which consisted of assignment to the experimental or control version of an approach-avoidance task and assignment to an anti-smoking or control public service announcement (PSA), and post-intervention measures. Among smokers with less education and with plans to quit, implicit attitudes were more negative for those who completed the approach-avoidance task. Smokers with more education who viewed the anti-smoking PSA and completed the approach-avoidance task spent more time reading smoking-related information. An approach-avoidance task is a potentially feasible strategy for changing implicit attitudes toward smoking and increasing receptivity to smoking-related information.

Effects of Online Comments on Smokers' Perception of Anti-Smoking Public Service Announcements.

On YouTube anti-smoking PSAs are widely viewed and uploaded; they also receive extensive commentary by viewers. This study examined whether such evaluative comments with or without uncivil expressions influence evaluations by subsequent viewers. Results showed PSAs with positive (i.e. anti-smoking) comments were perceived by smokers as more effective than PSAs with negative (pro smoking) comments. Smokers in the no comment condition gave the highest perceived effectiveness score to PSAs. Smokers' readiness to quit smoking moderated the effect of comments on PSA evaluation. Smokers reading negative uncivil comments reported more negative attitude toward quitting and a lower level of perceived risk of smoking than those reading negative civil comments but positive civil and positive uncivil comments didn't elicit different responses.