Publication Abstract

Authors: Emery S, Kim Y, Choi YK, Szczypka G, Wakefield M, Chaloupka FJ

Title: The effects of smoking-related television advertising on smoking and intentions to quit among adults in the United States: 1999-2007.

Journal: Am J Public Health 102(4):751-7

Date: 2012 Apr

Abstract: OBJECTIVES: We investigated whether state-sponsored antitobacco advertisements are associated with reduced adult smoking, and interactions between smoking-related advertising types. METHODS: We measured mean exposure to smoking-related advertisements with television ratings for the top-75 US media markets from 1999 to 2007. We combined these data with individual-level Current Population Surveys Tobacco Use Supplement data and state tobacco control policy data. RESULTS: Higher exposure to state-sponsored, Legacy, and pharmaceutical advertisements was associated with less smoking; higher exposure to tobacco industry advertisements was associated with more smoking. Higher exposure to state- and Legacy-sponsored advertisements was positively associated with intentions to quit and having made a past-year quit attempt; higher exposure to ads for pharmaceutical cessation aids was negatively associated with having made a quit attempt. There was a significant negative interaction between state- and Legacy-sponsored advertisements. CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to state-sponsored advertisements was far below Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-recommended best practices. The significant negative relationships between antismoking advertising and adult smoking provide strong evidence that tobacco-control media campaigns help reduce adult smoking. The significant negative interaction between state- and Legacy-sponsored advertising suggests that the campaigns reinforce one another.