Cigarette warning labels are the most effective way to encourage people to quit

Washington: According to a recent study, images of sick body parts and smoking horror stories told by real people would be the most effective in encouraging smokers to quit.

At least 120 countries around the world require warning labels on cigarette packaging.

For example, gangrene feet or a corpse. But the United States is missing from the list. Despite a 2009 Congressional Act ordering the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to put up pictorial warning labels, American cigarette packages still contain warnings containing only text. A new court order issued in September 2018 indicates that the FDA must accelerate its implementation schedule for pictorial warning labels.

New research from the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School for Communication aimed to contribute to valuable research for this purpose. Researchers analyzed over 300 pictorial warning labels to determine the most effective features to encourage smokers to quit. They found that testimonial frames and images of diseased body parts were the most effective individual characteristics.

Jazmyne Sutton, lead author of the study, said, "Humans act in response to our emotions, when we feel a negative emotion – such as fear, disgust, etc. – we want to avoid the source of that emotion. . "

The study entitled "Perceived Effectiveness of Objective Features of Illustrated Alert Messages" was published in Tobacco Control.

As part of the study, researchers collected more than 300 warning labels from various sources to analyze the different functions used in pictorial warning labels. They used pictorial alert messages on cigarette packages in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom; Illustrative warning messages proposed by the FDA that have not been implemented; a set of anti-tobacco messages produced by tobacco companies; pictorial testimonial warning messages developed for an experimental study; and image ads used in various local and national campaigns.

The researchers identified 48 objective characteristics that may be present in the ads, including factors such as the color of the image, the type of photo, the presence of male or female characters, the presence of people. medical equipment and the type of arguments. They then recruited nearly 1,400 smokers to view the ads and answer questions about their impact on ads.

The researchers said they hoped this study could provide label designers with generalizable guidance to create more effective, illustrated warning messages that will eventually impact attitudes at the workplace. With respect to smoking and promote behavioral change. In future studies, they will focus on the relationship between text on labels and graphic elements.

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