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
. 2015 Jul;17(7):769-75.
doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntu164. Epub 2014 Aug 20.

Framing Pictorial Cigarette Warning Labels to Motivate Young Smokers to Quit

Darren Mays  1 , Monique M Turner  2 , Xiaoquan Zhao  3 , W Douglas Evans  2 , George Luta  4 , Kenneth P Tercyak  5
Affiliations

Framing Pictorial Cigarette Warning Labels to Motivate Young Smokers to Quit

Darren Mays et al. Nicotine Tob Res. 2015 Jul.

Abstract

Introduction: The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act requires new pictorial warnings for U.S. cigarette packs, but enactment has been delayed by tobacco industry lawsuits. Research can inform implementation of the pictorial warning requirement and identify ways to optimize their public health impact post-implementation. This study investigated the impact of warning label message framing on young smokers' motivation to quit, examining cessation self-efficacy, and perceived risks as moderators of message framing impact.

Methods: Smokers ages 18-30 (n = 740) completed baseline measures and were randomized to view 4 images of cigarette packs with pictorial health warnings featuring gain- or loss-framed messages. Motivation to quit was assessed after participants viewed the pack images. Linear models accounting for repeated measures and adjusting for baseline covariates examined the impact of message framing and interactions with baseline self-efficacy to quit and perceived risks of smoking.

Results: Loss-framed warnings prompted significantly greater motivation to quit among smokers with high self-efficacy compared with smokers with low self-efficacy. Among smokers with low self-efficacy, gain-framed messages were superior to loss-framed messages. Gain-framed warnings generated significantly greater motivation to quit among smokers with high perceived risks compared with smokers with low perceived risks. Among smokers with high perceived risks, gain-framed messages were superior to loss-framed messages.

Conclusions: A combination of pictorial warnings featuring risk-based (i.e., loss-framed) and efficacy-enhancing (i.e., gain-framed) information may promote better public health outcomes. Research is needed to investigate how strategically framed warning messages impact smokers' behaviors based on their pre-existing attitudes and beliefs in real-world settings.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. U.S.Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking: 50 Years of Progress. A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 2014. - 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

MeSH terms