An Experiment Assessing Punitive versus Wellness Framing of a Tobacco-Free Campus Policy on Students’ Perceived Level of University Support

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine how different ways of describing a hypothetical tobacco-free campus policy would impact college students’ perceived level of support from the college. In the spring of 2016, we randomized 1885 undergraduate students in a required course to three message conditions in an online survey: control (no message), wellness (emphasizing promoting health and quitting support), and punitive (emphasizing consequences for violating the policy). The dependent variable was perceived organizational support. We selected items previously shown to be relevant for college students (alpha = 0.92 in our data). Given significant non-normality, we used non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis tests with pairwise comparisons to examine differences in perceived organizational support across the three conditions. We examined results by smoking status and if the participant correctly reported the message they received. We found no significant difference in perceived organizational support among students exposed to different tobacco-free campus policy announcements (p = 0.75). We also found no significant difference among smokers (p = 0.66). However, among smokers who correctly reported the message they received, we found significantly lower perceived university support (p = 0.01). Messages about tobacco-free campus policies should focus on the role of policy in supporting a healthy environment instead of punitive enforcement. Campus administrators should use caution when using message frames focusing on consequences of violating newly adopted policies.

Becoming a Tobacco-Free Campus: A Survey of Student Attitudes, Opinions, and Behaviors

“…cigarettes, cigars or cigarillos (38%) followed by electronic cigarettes/vaping (17.8%), hookah (11.9%), and smokeless tobacco (11.9%). Several students reported multiple forms of tobacco use, consistent with previous data showing over 10% of adults in the United States report using more than one type of tobacco product 17 . Motives for tobacco use are summarized in Table 1.…”

Determination of environmental awareness of university students: the case of Suleyman Demirel University (SDU)

“…En cuanto a investigaciones que involucran el AOP, se destaca un estudio realizado en una universidad estadounidense para examinar cómo diferentes formas de describir una política de campus libre de tabaco afecta el apoyo percibido de los estudiantes. El equipo investigador descubrió que al centrar los mensajes de la política en el bienestar no se impacta negativamente el apoyo organizacional percibido de los estudiantes; sin embargo, al enfocar estos en la aplicación punitiva de la política se evidenció un impacto negativo en la percepción; de ahí que la invitación sea a mostrar mensajes que no estén centrados en la violación de las políticas adoptadas recientemente en el campus (J. G. L. Lee et al, 2017).…”

Public support for smoke-free policies in outdoor areas and (semi-)private places: a systematic review and meta-analysis

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