The Role of Emotions and Perceived Ad Effectiveness: Evidence From the Truth FinishIt Campaign.

PURPOSE: Examine association between emotional valence and intensity prompted by anti-tobacco advertising messages and perceived ad effectiveness among youth/young adults. DESIGN: Online forced-exposure survey data from a nationally weighted, cross-sectional sample of youth/young adults, collected periodically over a 4-year period. SETTING: National. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-seven cross-sectional surveys conducted online from June 2015 to January 2018; total N = 9534. All participants, aged 15 to 21, were in the intervention; no control group. INTERVENTION: Individuals participating in premarket testing of truth ads were forced exposed to one of 37 anti-tobacco ads. MEASURES: Emotional response, emotional intensity, and perceived ad effectiveness. Emotional response has been previously studied and measured. Including the discrete measure of "concerned" in positive emotions is unique to our study. It patterned with the other positive emotions when each ad was examined by each emotion. Intensity as measured in this study through the 5-point scale ("how much does this ad make you feel") is unique in the anti-tobacco ad literature. Although several past studies ranked the degree of emotion elicited by ads, they have not incorporated the intensity of emotion as reported by the participant themselves. The scale was used to determine whether perceived ad effectiveness is similar to those used in previous studies. ANALYSIS: Linear regressions were estimated to assess type of emotional sentiment and level of intensity in relation to perceived effectiveness of the message. RESULTS: All 9534 participants were exposed; no control group. The ßs indicate how strongly the emotion variable influences the study outcome of perceived ad effectiveness. Positive emotions (ß = .76) were more highly associated with perceived ad effectiveness (ß = .06). Higher intensity with positive emotional sentiment and high-intensity negative produced the highest scores for perceived ad effectiveness (ß = .30). CONCLUSION: Eliciting a positive, high-impact emotional response from viewers can help improve perceived effectiveness, and in turn, overall ad effectiveness.

A closer look at smoking among young adults: where tobacco control should focus its attention.

OBJECTIVES: We sought to fill gaps in knowledge of smoking behaviors among college-educated and non-college-educated young adults. METHODS: We used data from the 2003 Tobacco Use Supplement of the Current Population Survey to analyze smoking behaviors among young adults aged 18-24 years and older young adults aged 25-34 years by college status (enrolled, or with a degree, but not enrolled) and other measures of socioeconomic position. RESULTS: Current smoking prevalence among US young adults aged 18-24 years who are not enrolled in college or who do not have a college degree was 30%. This was more than twice the current smoking prevalence among college-educated young adults (14%). Non-college-educated young adults were more likely than were college-educated young adults to start smoking at a younger age and were less likely to have made a quit attempt, although no differences were found in their intentions to quit. Higher rates of smoking in the non-college-educated population were also evident in the slightly older age group. CONCLUSIONS: Non-college-educated young adults smoke at more than twice the rate of their college-educated counterparts. Targeted prevention and cessation efforts are needed for non-college-educated young adults to prevent excess morbidity and mortality in later years.

Smoking, obesity, and their co-occurrence in the United States: cross sectional analysis.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the prevalence of obesity, smoking, and both health risk factors together among adults in the United States. DESIGN: Cross sectional analysis of a national health interview survey. SETTING: United States. PARTICIPANTS: 29 305 adults (aged > or = 18) in 2002. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Prevalence of adults who are obese (body mass index > or = 30), who smoke, and who are obese and smoke. Prevalence was stratified by age, sex, ethnic group, education, and income. RESULTS: 23.5% of adults were obese, 22.7% smoked, and 4.7% smoked and were obese. CONCLUSIONS: Although the proportion of adults who smoke and are obese is relatively low, this subgroup is concentrated among lower socioeconomic groups.