Cancer Control Research
5R01CA067850-02
Fortmann, Stephen P.
POLICY STUDIES ON LIMITING TOBACCO MARKETING TO YOUTH
AbstractDESCRIPTION: In-store tobacco advertisements and promotions are an
increasingly utilized marketing strategy to encourage tobacco use. The
investigators' previous work indicates that point-of-purchase (POP) tobacco
advertising and promotion are extensive, more prevalent near schools, and
becoming more pervasive. Tobacco control activists and public policy
makers, therefore, have expressed growing interest in restrictions on POP
marketing, and the FDA last year proposed such regulations. While research
has been conducted on the role of advertising in promoting adolescent
smoking initiation, little is known about the influence of POP tobacco
advertising and promotion on young people or the possible effects of policy
options to restrict youth exposure to these pro-smoking messages.
The investigators will assess the effects of three POP conditions
('tombstone" ads only, "tombstone" plus counter-advertising, and status quo)
on adolescents' normative perceptions, assessments of risk, purchase
intentions, and smoking-related behavior. This study consists of a
randomized, cross-sectional survey of youth recruited from 28 classrooms of
fifth-graders and 24 classrooms of seventh-graders in two school districts
and a one-year follow-up assessment of a panel (cohort) of the youth
recruited from 28 classrooms of sixth-graders and 24 classrooms of
eighth-graders. The investigators will design and systematically pre-test
"tombstone" and counter-advertising materials that could be used in stores
that sell tobacco products. They will produce videotape simulations of
typical store environments for two alternative POP advertising policies
("tombstone" ads only; "tombstone" ads plus counter-advertising) and a
reference, status quo POP condition. These stimulus materials will be
presented to students in classrooms. The research design enables the
investigators to measure the immediate impact of exposure to the different
POP conditions (year 1).
They will also be able to determine the relationship between immediate
responses to the videotaped POP policy options (and no-video reference
condition) and subsequent smoking-related behavior (year 2). The
investigators will disseminate the results of the study to other
researchers, tobacco policy activists, and public health officials (year 3).
The results will explicate the pro-smoking influences of tobacco POP
marketing on youth and provide empirical data regarding the efficacy of two
proposed policy options. They will measure adolescents' responses to
inoculation counter-advertisements and determine if responses are predictive
of future behavior.
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