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truth® YOUTH SMOKING PREVENTION CAMPAIGN FOUND TO POSITIVELY AFFECT TEENS’ ATTITUDES ABOUT SMOKING
1/22/2008
American Legacy Foundation® Study Finds Tobacco Industry Ads May Be Counterproductive
Washington, D.C. – According to an article published today, teens who are exposed to the American Legacy Foundation’s national truth® youth smoking prevention campaign are more likely to harbor negative feelings towards the tobacco industry, and more likely to intend not to smoke. In addition, the study found that teens who saw Philip Morris’ “Think Don’t Smoke” advertising campaign had more favorable beliefs and attitudes toward tobacco companies.
“Once again, research shows the effectiveness of well-run independent smoking prevention campaigns versus those run by the tobacco industry,” remarked Cheryl Healton, Dr. P.H., Legacy's president and CEO. “We now have further confirmation that the truth® campaign has remained relevant and effective over an extended period.”
The study, published in Health Education Research, examines how the American Legacy Foundation’s truth® campaign and Philip Morris’s ‘Think. Don’t Smoke’ (TDS) campaign influenced youth’s tobacco-related attitudes, beliefs and intentions during the first three years of the truth® campaign – from 2000 to 2003. The study expands on previous research, published in the American Journal of Public Health in 2002, that looked at a ten-month period of the campaign. This current study looks at an extended period of three years. More than 35,000 young people from ages 12-17 were polled on their attitudes toward truth® and toward Philip Morris’ campaign as part of this latest round of research.
The 2002 study, Getting to the Truth: Evaluation of National Tobacco Countermarketing Campaigns, showed that after only ten months, exposure to the truth® campaign strengthened young people's anti-tobacco attitudes, reducing their likelihood of smoking in the future. This result was borne out again in the new study, which found that teens who were aware of the truth® campaign were nearly twice as likely to say they did not intend to smoke in the future. The data showed that approximately 70% of teens were aware of the campaign over the three year period.
As in the prior study, the current study examined nine tobacco-related beliefs and attitude items, including such points as “cigarette companies lie,” “not smoking is a way to express independence,” and “taking a stand against smoking is important to me.” Exposure to the truth® campaign was associated with steady, positive changes in attitudes, beliefs, and intentions to smoke. While more favorable beliefs and attitudes toward tobacco companies were linked to teens exposed to the Philip Morris’ ads, findings did suggest that those same ads did not directly dilute the positive influence of the truth® campaign.
“This latest study supports a growing body of literature finding that well-executed, anti-smoking and tobacco prevention campaigns can positively and consistently change youth beliefs and attitudes, while tobacco industry-sponsored campaigns can have the opposite, counterproductive influence,” said Dr. Healton. “The industry spends nearly 36 million dollars a day in the U.S, alone – more than the yearly budget for truth®. With 4000 teens trying their first cigarette every day, it just reinforces the critical need for campaigns like truth® to continue to be out there reaching teens with these important messages – not the tobacco industry.”
Healton said this fact is underscored by December’s new Monitoring the Future study. The annual survey found youth smoking rates among 8th graders have declined significantly, but that the declines for 10th graders are statistically insignificant and for 12th graders are at a stand still. For the fourth consecutive year, the rates for 10th and 12th graders stayed flat, a trend that now threatens the historic near 30-year decline in youth smoking.
In addition, a report released in 2007 by the Institutes of Medicine (IOM), entitled Ending the Tobacco Problem: A Blueprint for the Nation, addressed the nation’s tobacco epidemic, finding that America must implement strategies that effectively reduce and prevent smoking and combine those efforts with a changed regulatory and policy landscape to fight the nation’s number-one cause of preventable death. The report, presented to Congress, specifically mentions the truth® campaign, and “concludes that a national, youth-oriented media campaign should be a permanent component of the nation’s strategy to reduce tobacco.”
The Health Education Research study reinforces previous research regarding the efficacy of the truth® campaign:
- Research released in September 2007 found that the truth® campaign may also be changing teens' perceptions about how common smoking is among their peers. A study conducted by RTI International and funded by the American Legacy Foundation indicated that teens exposed to the truth® campaign have a more accurate view of the number of their peers who smoke. Teens with less exposure to the campaign believed smoking was more common among people their age. The finding is good news for the truth® campaign because teens' perception of the prevalence of peer smoking has been shown to predict future smoking.
- In February 2005 the American Legacy Foundation released the results of an evaluation of the national truth® campaign that was published in the American Journal of Public Health. The study found that 22 percent of the overall decline in youth smoking during the first two years of the campaign (2000-2002) is directly attributable to truth®. This equates to 300,000 fewer youth smokers in 2002 as a result of the campaign.
BACKGROUND ON THE truth® CAMPAIGN
truth®, launched in February 2000, is the largest national youth smoking prevention campaign and the only national campaign not directed by the tobacco industry. The campaign exposes the tactics of the tobacco industry, the truth about addiction, and the health effects and social consequences of smoking. truth® allows teens to make informed choices about tobacco use by giving them the facts about the industry and its products. The campaign was created by the American Legacy Foundation®, which was founded as a result of the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement between the tobacco industry, 46 states and five U.S. territories. Payments to the American Legacy Foundation are made on behalf of the settling states. The American Legacy Foundation, which provides strategic direction and funding for the truth® campaign, received in 2003 what is likely its final payment to the National Public Education Fund established by the Master Settlement Agreement. Despite its success, the truth® campaign now faces an unprecedented funding challenge.
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Contact: Patricia McLaughlin, 202-454-5560, Trish O’Callaghan, the ad*itive, 215-525-1404