Hamilton William L, Norton Giulia diStefano, Ouellette Tammy K, Rhodes Wiliam M, Kling Ryan, Connolly Gregory N
Abt Associates Inc, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Nicotine Tob Res. 2004 Dec;6 Suppl 3:S353-62. doi: 10.1080/14622200412331320752.
This study examines smokers' responses to advertisements for potentially reduced exposure tobacco products (PREP), light cigarettes, and regular cigarettes. A convenience sample of 600 adult smokers reviewed one actual advertisement for each type of product. Smokers ranked the products on health risk, amount of tar, and carcinogenicity, and identified the messages they perceived the advertisements to convey. Smokers perceived PREP products as having lower health risks (mean = 5.4 on a scale of 1-10) and carcinogens (6.6) than light cigarettes (5.8 and 6.9, respectively, p < .001), and lights as having lower health risks and carcinogen levels than regular cigarettes (8.2 and 8.8, respectively, p <.001). The average PREP rating for level of tar (5.3) was not significantly less than the light mean of 5.4, but both were significantly less than the regular mean of 8.4 (p <.001). Although no advertisements explicitly said that the products were healthy or safe, advertisements for PREP products and light cigarettes were interpreted as conveying positive messages about health and safety. Most smokers believed that claims made in cigarette advertisements must be approved by a government agency. The results indicate that advertisements can and do leave consumers with perceptions of the health and safety of tobacco products that are contrary to the scientific evidence. Explicit and implicit advertising messages may be strengthened by the perceived government endorsement. This supports the Institute of Medicine's recommendation to regulate the promotion, advertising, and labeling of PREP tobacco products and light cigarettes. Effective regulation may need to focus on consumer perceptions resulting from advertisements rather than the explicit content of advertising text.
本研究考察了吸烟者对潜在降低暴露烟草产品（PREP）、淡味香烟和普通香烟广告的反应。一个由600名成年吸烟者组成的便利样本查看了每种产品的一则实际广告。吸烟者对这些产品在健康风险、焦油含量和致癌性方面进行了排名，并确定了他们认为广告所传达的信息。吸烟者认为PREP产品的健康风险（1 - 10分制下平均分为5.4）和致癌物含量（6.6）低于淡味香烟（分别为5.8和6.9，p <.001），且淡味香烟的健康风险和致癌物水平低于普通香烟（分别为8.2和8.8，p <.001）。PREP产品焦油含量的平均评分（5.3）并不显著低于淡味香烟的平均5.4，但两者均显著低于普通香烟的平均8.4（p <.001）。尽管没有广告明确表示这些产品是健康或安全的，但PREP产品和淡味香烟的广告被解读为传达了关于健康和安全的积极信息。大多数吸烟者认为香烟广告中的声明必须得到政府机构的批准。结果表明，广告能够且确实会让消费者对烟草产品的健康和安全产生与科学证据相悖的认知。广告中明确和隐含的信息可能会因消费者认为得到了政府认可而得到强化。这支持了医学研究所关于规范PREP烟草产品和淡味香烟的促销、广告及标签的建议。有效的监管可能需要关注广告所导致的消费者认知，而非广告文本的明确内容。
