Dissuasive Cigarettes
Public health warnings have been printed on cigarette packs since 1966 (in the U.S.). But recently, public health researchers have been wondering whether altering the appearance of the cigarettes themselves might be more effective. In a study published in the 2016 issue of the journal Tobacco Control, New Zealand researchers tested the response of smokers to a variety of “dissuasive cigarettes.”
One of these cigarettes had a “smoking kills” warning printed directly on it. Two others were unpleasant colors: "slimy green" and "faecal yellow-brown." The fourth was printed with a graphic depicting "15 minutes of life lost."
The researchers found that the smokers they surveyed reacted negatively to all four of the dissuasive cigarettes, but had the strongest negative reaction to the "15 minutes of life lost" cigarette:
One of these cigarettes had a “smoking kills” warning printed directly on it. Two others were unpleasant colors: "slimy green" and "faecal yellow-brown." The fourth was printed with a graphic depicting "15 minutes of life lost."
The researchers found that the smokers they surveyed reacted negatively to all four of the dissuasive cigarettes, but had the strongest negative reaction to the "15 minutes of life lost" cigarette:
Respondents were least likely to select an option where the stick featured the 'minutes of life lost' graphic. Relative to the 'typical' stick (the most common and most preferred stick), the 'minutes of life lost' stick was 80% less likely to be chosen (OR=0.21) and nearly four scale points less appealing (-1.32 cf. 2.66)
Comments
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember a smokers reduction campaign which stated that the smoke in cigarettes got worse the closer to the filter you smoked it. Something to do with concentration of the nasty stuff. If that wasn't just a marketing campaign by tobacco companies to get people to throw half the cigarette away and buy more, then shouldn't the scale on the 15 minutes of life lost be logarithmic and not linear?
Posted by mjbird on 01/28/20 at 09:00 AM
Guy #1: Do you smoke after sex?
Guy #2: Not that I've noticed.
Guy #2: Not that I've noticed.
Posted by KDP on 01/29/20 at 11:37 AM
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Category: Psychology | Smoking and Tobacco