Scary images on cigarette packs, illustrating the possible consequences of smoking, work, American researchers came to this conclusion.
Researchers from Ohio State University (USA) came to this conclusion for the first time: previous studies in this area were carried out only in laboratory conditions for a short time. A recent experiment involved 244 adults who smoked between 5 and 40 cigarettes a day. The scientists provided them with their preferred brand of cigarettes, but in modified packaging, for four weeks. All packages had text warnings, such as “Smoking causes fatal lung disease.”
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Some participants received packs of cigarettes that, in addition to text, included one of nine unpleasant or frightening graphic images that illustrated the possible consequences of smoking. The third group of subjects received packages that, in addition to text and a picture, had an additional text warning that each cigarette smoked was an additional health risk.
Participants in the study came to the lab each week to receive a new supply of cigarettes and to complete a questionnaire about their impressions of the new package.
It turned out that those participants who received packs with unpleasant pictures were more likely to indicate in the questionnaire that the package caused them unpleasant thoughts associated with smoking. They were also more likely to carefully read textual warnings and remember their contents better. They had more confidence in these warnings and were more likely to say they intended to quit smoking.
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“The emotions evoked by the unpleasant images acted on the smoker like a spotlight. As a result, he read the warnings written on the package more carefully and thought about the risk to his health, ”says one of the authors of the study, psychology professor at Ohio State University Ellen Peters (Ellen Peters). “Our study has shown that, in real-life settings, fearful images have a greater long-term effect on smokers than textual warnings alone,” says study lead author and Ohio State University researcher psychologist Abigail Evans.
In the US, scary images have been required by law to be printed on all cigarette packs since 2009. In Russia, a similar order of the Ministry of Health came into force in 2013. However, in the United States, tobacco companies have challenged the decision in court, calling it “bullying” of consumers. The authors of the study do not agree with this interpretation.
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“The images did not intimidate smokers (study participants). They certainly elicited an emotional response from them, and because of those emotions, they thought more carefully about the health risks of smoking. The court forgets that without emotions we cannot make decisions. It is the emotional experiences caused by the information we receive that motivate us to action. Images that illustrate the risks associated with smoking help smokers think about these risks and weigh them carefully,” says Ellen Peters.
Подробнее см. A. Evans et al. «Graphic Warning Labels Elicit Affective and Thoughtful Responses from Smokers: Results of a Randomized Clinical Trial», PLOS One, December 2015.