Reinforcing effects of cigarette advertising on under‐age smoking

Abstract

Interviews were conducted with 848 Glasgow children aged between 11 and 14 years. There were consistent differences between smokers and non-smokers. Smokers tended to be more adept at recalling, recognizing and identifying cigarette advertisements. This suggests they tend to pay more attention to cigarette advertising. Smokers also tended to be generally more appreciative of cigarette advertising. Moreover, this greater awareness and appreciation of cigarette advertising was independent of other important predictors of under-age smoking, such as smoking by peers, siblings and parents. These findings, taken in conjunction with previous research, indicate that cigarette advertising is reinforcing under-age smoking. The smokers showed an enhanced or heightened preference for Kensitas Club, the brand favoured by adults. This is consistent with previous research indicating that promotional devices which help determine and reinforce adult cigarette brand preferences have an even greater effect on under-age smokers.

Effects of short‐term cosmetic versus long‐term health fear appeals in anti‐smoking advertisements on the smoking behaviour of adolescents

“…These adolescents may perceive smoking as a positive attribute that portrays an image that is accepted by peers (Botvin et al, 1983;Bowen et al, 1991;Collins et al,1987). These attributes (eg attractiveness to the opposite sex and active in sports) are the same as those portrayed in many tobacco advertisements (Aitken and Eadie, 1990;Altman et al, 1987).…”

“…In a review of the literature, Hastings and Aitken (1995) conclude that it is no longer tenable to deny that cigarette advertising influences children's smoking behaviour. Research in Australia, the UK and the USA has consistently shown differences among adolescent smokers and non-smokers with regard to awareness of cigarette advertising (Aitken and Eadie, 1990;Goldstein et al, 1987;Aitken et al, 1987). For example, a study conducted by the UK Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (Goddard, 1990) found that adolescent smokers were twice as adept at identifying cigarette advertisements that did not show the brand than were non-smokers.…”

A review of the effect of cigarette advertising

“…Another study found that smokers were more likely than nonsmokers to believe that cigarette ads made smoking more appealing (Arnett & Terhanian, 1998). Furthermore, studies have found that the likelihood that an adolescent will begin smoking is positively correlated with his or her recognition of cigarette ads (Aitken & Eadie, 1990;Aitken, Eadie, Hastings, & Haywood, 1991;Aitken, Leather, & O'Hagan, 1985;Fischer, 1989), favorable opinions of cigarette ads (Aitken et al, 1985(Aitken et al, , 1991Aitken & Eadie, 1990;O'Connell et al, 1981), and, unsurprisingly, with his or her cigarette brand preference (Goldstein, Fisher, Richards, & Creten, 1986). This research has been interpreted by some scholars (e.g., Aitken & Eadie, 1990;Arnett & Terhanian, 1998;Potts et al, 1986) as evidence that advertising causes smoking continuation.…”

Tobacco marketing and adolescent smoking: more support for a causal inference

“…4,5 Still others have shown correlations between the intensity of brand-specific cigarette advertising and brand awareness, preference, [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] or brand market shares 12,15,16 among youths. Many cross-sectional studies have reported associations between exposure to cigarette advertising or participation in promotional activities and attitudes toward smoking, 17 susceptibility to smoking, [18][19][20][21][22][23] and smoking behavior 6,9,11,17,19,21,22,[24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39] among youths. Because of the cross-sectional nature of these studies, it is not possible to determine whether the exposure to tobacco marketing preceded and contributed to smoking initiation or whether smoking initiation preceded increasing receptivity to tobacco advertising and promotions.…”