Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2015 Mar;24(e1):e87-92.
doi: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2013-051234. Epub 2014 Jan 13.

Cigarette packaging and health warnings: the impact of plain packaging and message framing on young smokers

Darren Mays  1 , Raymond S Niaura  2 , W Douglas Evans  3 , David Hammond  4 , George Luta  5 , Kenneth P Tercyak  1
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Cigarette packaging and health warnings: the impact of plain packaging and message framing on young smokers

Darren Mays et al. Tob Control. 2015 Mar.

Abstract

Objective: This study examined the impact of pictorial cigarette-warning labels, warning-label message framing and plain cigarette packaging, on young adult smokers' motivation to quit.

Methods: Smokers aged 18-30 years (n=740) from a consumer research panel were randomised to one of four experimental conditions where they viewed online images of four cigarette packs with warnings about lung disease, cancer, stroke/heart disease and death, respectively. Packs differed across conditions by warning-message framing (gain vs loss) and packaging (branded vs plain). Measures captured demographics, smoking behaviour, covariates and motivation to quit in response to cigarette packs.

Results: Pictorial warnings about lung disease and cancer generated the strongest motivation to quit across conditions. Adjusting for pretest motivation and covariates, a message framing by packaging interaction revealed gain-framed warnings on plain packs generated greater motivation to quit for lung disease, cancer and mortality warnings (p<0.05), compared with loss-framed warnings on plain packs.

Conclusions: Warnings combining pictorial depictions of smoking-related health risks with text-based messages about how quitting reduces risks, may achieve better outcomes among young adults, especially in countries considering or implementing plain packaging regulations.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Current cigarette smoking among adults - United States, 2011. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2012;61:889–894. - PubMed
    1. Henriksen L. Comprehensive tobacco marketing restrictions: promotion, packaging, price and place. Tob Control. 2012;21:147–153. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hammond D. Tobacco packaging and labeling policies under the U.S. Tobacco Control Act: research needs and priorities. Nicotine Tob Res. 2012;14:62–74. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Husten CG, Deyton LR. Understanding the Tobacco Control Act: efforts by the US Food and Drug Administration to make tobacco-related morbidity and mortality part of the USA's past, not its future. Lancet. 2013;381:1570–1580. - PubMed
    1. Bayer R, Gostin L, Marcus-Toll D. Repackaging cigarettes--will the courts thwart the FDA? N Engl J Med. 2012;367:2065–2067. - PubMed

Publication types