Findings You Can Use

Gagne, L. (2008). The 2005 British Columbia Smoking Cessation Mass Media Campaign and short-term changes in smokers attitudes. Journal of Health Communication, 13, 125-148.

[Link to full article - (2.05 MB)]

Abstract:

The effect of the 2005 British Columbia smoking cessation mass media campaign on a panel (N = 1,341) of 20-30 year old smokers attitudes is evaluated. The 5-week campaign consisted of posters, television, and radio ads about the health benefits of cessation. Small impacts on the panel's attitudes towards the adverse impacts of smoking were found, with greater impacts found for those with no plans to quit smoking at the initial interview. As smokers with no plans to quit increasingly recognized the adverse impacts of smoking, they also increasingly agreed that they use smoking as a coping mechanism. Smokers with plans to quit at the initial interview were already well aware of smoking's adverse impacts. Respondents recalling the campaign poster, which presented a healthy alternative to smoking, decreased their perception of smoking as a coping mechanism and devalued their attachment to smoking. Evidence was found that media ad recall mediates unobserved predictors of attitudes towards smoking.

Major Findings:

• The smoking cessation campaign targeted the following audience: 20- to 30- year-old British Columbia smokers with annual income of less than $60,000, without a university degree, employed in blue collar or clerical, service or sales jobs.
• Researchers found that their target audience considered family and friends as very important; was skilled with technology; loved music, the MTV culture and stories about real people; was busy and stressed out; was distrustful of government and large organizations; was used to and expected material things; was racially diverse; valued balance between work and leisure; had a short-term outlook, and responded well to workplace cessation programs.
• Researchers divided smokers into several stages:

1) Precontemplation stage if they don't plan on quitting in the next 6 months.
2) Contemplation stage if they are planning to quit in the next 6 months and aren't in the preparation stage.
3) Preparation stage if they're planning to quit in the next 30 days and tried to quit in the last 3 months.
4) Action stage if they have already quit.

• The campaign was effective in influencing the attitudes of smokers with no plans to quit at baseline (precontemplation stage).
• Changes in the "bad for me" and "I love smoking" attitudes predicted the probability that a smoker plans to quit in the next 30 days.
• While health messages were important, addiction to smoking and smoking being used as a coping mechanism were also critical.
• The attitude with the most potential to improve was about how much one's smoking bothers other people and it was the strongest predictor of cessation after the end of the campaign.
• Concern about bad breath also strongly predicted cessation after the end of the campaign.