Effectiveness Of Health Warning Labels Research Articles

The effectiveness of health warning labels and environmental warning labels in different contexts of advertisements and public service announcements

ABSTRACT Previous research has proposed the positive effects of warning health/safety labels. Nevertheless, their effectiveness compared to environmental warning labels (i.e., ecolabels), especially in limiting the harmful outcomes of health- and safety-related products, is still questioned. Two studies were conducted to investigate the effectiveness of different label messages in different context formats (contextually incongruent commercial advertisements (ads) vs. contextually congruent public service announcements (PSAs); Study 1, N = 332) and different context-induced moods (positive vs. negative; Study 2, N = 334). Findings indicated that PSAs were more effective than ads in influencing individuals’ attitudes toward labels and behavioral change intention. Furthermore, health warning labels are generally more effective than ecolabels. The interactions between label types and context formats, as well as label types and context-induced moods, were also explored and discussed. The current study contributed to the scarce literature on warning label comparison and advanced a comprehensive understanding of warning labels and ecolabels, as well as their effectiveness. Results provided important implications for practitioners and policymakers, particularly on how to effectively employ prevention- and/or promotion-oriented warning messages in their campaigns.

Response to health warnings on cigarette packs as a predictor of future smoking among current tobacco smokers

The United States (US) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires health warning labels on all cigarette packages as part of a campaign to reduce tobacco smoking. Prior research has revealed the mixed effectiveness of these health warning labels. The present study used nationally representative, longitudinal data from the Population Study of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study to assess whether reported reactions to health warning labels on cigarette packs predict smoking frequency and smoking cessation two years later. We hypothesized that individuals who reported strong reactions to health warnings at Wave 1 of the PATH Study would engage in less frequent smoking behavior and would be more likely to have completely quit cigarette smoking two years later (Wave 3), compared with individuals who did not report strong reactions. Multinomial and binary logistic regressions were used to estimate the associations between attitudes toward health warning labels and later smoking frequency and smoking cessation. Our hypotheses were partially supported; results indicated that several attitudes toward health warnings predict later smoking behaviors. These findings indicate general effectiveness of health warning labels and support the FDA’s initiative to require more attention-grabbing health warning labels on cigarette packs.

Effects of pairing health warning labels with energy-dense snack foods on food choice and attitudes: Online experimental study

BackgroundThere is limited evidence concerning the potential effectiveness of health warning labels (HWLs) using images and text to depict possible negative health consequences of consumption, for reducing selection of energy-dense snack foods. Furthermore, the underlying mechanisms have received little attention; particularly effects on implicit attitudes, which previous work has shown may mediate the effect of aversive images on food choice. AimTo assess the impact of pairing image- and text-based HWLs with energy-dense snack foods on a) the selection of, and b) implicit and explicit attitudes towards, those foods. MethodsOnline experimental study with a representative UK sample (n = 1185), using a 2(Image/No Image) x 2(Text/No Text) factorial between-subjects design. Participants were randomised to one of four study arms, viewing snack food images paired with either: image-only HWLs, text-only HWLs, image-and-text HWLs, or no HWLs (control). HWLs concerned various negative health consequences of excess energy intake, such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes. The primary outcome was hypothetical food choice (energy-dense snack foods versus fruit), assessed post-intervention. Secondary outcomes were implicit and explicit attitudes. ResultsNeither food choice nor explicit attitudes were changed significantly by any type of HWL. Implicit attitudes towards energy-dense snack foods were more negative after exposure to text-only or image-and-text HWLs. Both implicit and explicit attitudes predicted unique variance in food choice. ConclusionsThis study suggests that short-term repeated exposure to HWLs paired with energy-dense snack foods may not consistently alter food choices, but can change implicit attitudes associated with food choices. Further laboratory and field studies are needed to more definitively assess the impact of HWLs on food selection and consumption in applied contexts and over time, as well as delineate underlying mechanisms.

Impact of gender, age and smoking habits on the effectiveness of health warning messages on cigarette packets: research on a highly educated Turkish sample

ABSTRACT This study investigated the perceived effectiveness of health warning labels (HWs) on smokers and non-smokers. Data were collected online and 342 valid responses were obtained. The impact of HWs in smoking abstinence was analyzed with canonical correlation technique and the results illustrated that the perceived effectiveness of HWs changed with gender, age and smoking levels. HWs depicting unhealthy infants due to second-hand smoking were found to be more effective for female participants. In contrast, depicting male figures who had had heart surgery, a sexual impotence problem and difficulty in breathing during a treadmill stress test were found more effective for males. Although the impact was not very strong, HW that read “smoking causes lethal lung cancer’ was considered effective mostly by the older participants. Finally, smoking frequency was not a significant predictor of the perceived effectiveness of all HWs, except for the two warnings which illustrated the adverse effect of second-hand smoking on infants. These two warnings were considered ineffective against the increase in smoking frequency. From a health promotion viewpoint, these findings highlight the importance of including social determinants in the process of HWs design since the effectiveness of HWs changed based on age, gender and the smoking status of participants. Thus, this study recommends that health policymakers tailor HWs based on gender, age, and smoking status rather than mass communicating the same message across different social groups.

The effects of health warning labels on cigarette packages on patients who apply to cardiology clinic

Amac: Sigara kullanicilarina, sigara tuketimine bagli olusabilecek saglik sorunlarini anlatmalari bakimindan sigara kutusu uzerindeki saglik uyari etiketleri (SUE) sigara kullanimi ile mucadelede yillardir kullanilan bir yontemdir. Ulkemizde yurt disinda kullanilan SUE’lerin toplum ve ozellikle kardiyoloji poliklinigine basvuran hastalar uzerinde nasil bir etki yaptigini arastiran calisma yoktur. Biz bu calismada SUE’lerinin kardiyoloji poliklinigine basvuran hastalar uzerindeki etkisini arastirdik ve ulkemizde kullanilan SUE’ler ile yurt disinda kullanilan daha sert ve carpici oldugunu dusundugumuz SUE’leri karsilastirdik. Yontemler: Tanimlayici tipte olan bu arastirmamizda kardiyoloji poliklinigine basvuran 239 hastaya 45 soruyu iceren bir anket uyguladi. Ulkemizdeki kullanilan 14 farkli gorsel, yabanci ulkelere kullanilan 9 fakli gorsel ile karsilastirildi. Bulgular: Yaptigimiz calismada kardiyoloji poliklinigine basvuran hastalarin %28.9’nun hic sigara kullanmadigi gorulurken, %36.0’si halen sigara kullanmakta olup, %35.1’i daha once kullanip birakmistir. Arastirmaya katilanlarin %57,7’si sigaralar uzerindeki gorselleri sigarayi onleyici olarak etkili buldugunu ve %90,8’i yabanci ulkelerde kullanilan gorselleri, Turkiye’deki gorsellerden daha etkili buldugunu belirtti. Sonuc: Bu calisma gostermektedir ki kardiyoloji poliklinigine basvuran hastalar arasinda bile halen sigara kullanimi yaygindir. Ulkemizde kullanilan SUE'ler ile karsilastirildiginda yurt disinda kullanilan gorselleri, katilimcilarin buyuk cogunlugu daha etkili bulmustur. Daha sert ve carpici SUE'lerin kullanilmasinin sigaraya karsi mucadelede daha etkili olabilecegi gozukmektedir.

Severity and susceptibility: measuring the perceived effectiveness and believability of tobacco health warnings

BackgroundPictorial tobacco health warning labels (HWLs) have been shown to be more effective than text-only HWLs in changing smoking attitudes and intentions. However, there is contradictory evidence regarding how the severity of the content of HWLs influences responses to them.MethodsWe examined the perceived believability and effectiveness of HWLs in an online study using a convenience sample of non-smokers (N = 437) and smokers (N = 436). HWLs were in one of three presentation formats: (text-only, a moderately severe image or highly severe image) and focussed on three disease outcomes (lung cancer, blindness or tooth and gum disease). Participants rated the effectiveness and believability of each HWL and also rated their perceived susceptibility to each disease.ResultsA 2 (smoking status) × 3 (presentation format) × 3 (disease outcome) ANOVA was run for both believability and effectiveness ratings. The most severe pictorial HWLs received the highest believability and effectiveness ratings and as expected, the text-only HWLs received the lowest. Lung cancer HWLs were rated most believable and effective, with the blindness HWLs receiving the lowest scores. A 2 (smoking status) × 3 (disease outcome) ANOVA was conducted on the ratings of perceived susceptibility to the three diseases. Smokers considered themselves to be more susceptible to all three diseases, and among smokers, perceived susceptibility to the diseases was positively correlated with effectiveness and believability ratings of the HWLs.ConclusionOur findings support previous evidence that pictorial HWLs are rated as more effective and believable than text-only warnings, and provide some support for the use of severe or ‘grotesque’ HWLs on tobacco products. Our data also suggest that HWLs should aim to increase perceived susceptibility to disease, as this was positively related to perceived message effectiveness and believability.

Impact of Tobacco Control Interventions on Smoking Initiation, Cessation, and Prevalence: A Systematic Review

Background. Policymakers need estimates of the impact of tobacco control (TC) policies to set priorities and targets for reducing tobacco use. We systematically reviewed the independent effects of TC policies on smoking behavior. Methods. We searched MEDLINE (through January 2012) and EMBASE and other databases through February 2009, looking for studies published after 1989 in any language that assessed the effects of each TC intervention on smoking prevalence, initiation, cessation, or price participation elasticity. Paired reviewers extracted data from studies that isolated the impact of a single TC intervention. Findings. We included 84 studies. The strength of evidence quantifying the independent effect on smoking prevalence was high for increasing tobacco prices and moderate for smoking bans in public places and antitobacco mass media campaigns. Limited direct evidence was available to quantify the effects of health warning labels and bans on advertising and sponsorship. Studies were too heterogeneous to pool effect estimates. Interpretations. We found evidence of an independent effect for several TC policies on smoking prevalence. However, we could not derive precise estimates of the effects across different settings because of variability in the characteristics of the intervention, level of policy enforcement, and underlying tobacco control environment.