Branstetter Steven A, Lengerich Eugene, Dignan Mark, Muscat Joshua
The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA.
Department of Public Health Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA.
Rural Remote Health. 2015;15:3136. Epub 2015 Mar 8.
A critical component of the US Food and Drug Administration's new authority to regulate tobacco products is understanding communications and marketing of tobacco products and their perceived risks in different geographic, age, race, ethnic and socioeconomic groups. Such information might be particularly useful in subgroups of the population or geographic areas that experience high tobacco use and suffer a disproportionate burden from tobacco-related diseases. For certain populations, there may be additional cultural factors unique to the geographical region which may promote smoking behavior. The purpose of the present study was to examine the perceptions of tobacco-related media messages among a sample of rural Appalachian natives, a population with smoking rates higher than the national average and who are disproportionately affected by tobacco-related and other cancers.
A series of four focus group sessions were conducted in a north-central area of Pennsylvania, in one of 52 counties in Pennsylvania designated as within the Appalachian region. Participants were recruited via direct mail letters, advertisements in a local newspaper, and recruiting flyers posted at the local library. The focus groups were moderated by trained professional staff from The Pennsylvania State University's Center for Survey Research (CSR). Focus group sessions sought to examine perceptions of tobacco-related media in an Appalachian region of Pennsylvania. The sessions were audiotaped and transcribed, and the data was analyzed using qualitative approaches.
Participants reported that pro-tobacco ads and favorable messages were received through the internet, direct mail, convenience stores, billboards, movies, and other sources. Anti-tobacco messages were identified primarily from television and magazines. In general, participants concluded that quitting was a matter of choice and was not influenced by pro- or anti-tobacco media.
These results indicate that both pro- and anti-tobacco messages from a variety of sources are highly recognized and remembered in detail in Appalachia, but the effectiveness of anti-tobacco messages is questionable within this group. It was found that, without exception, group members reported that no media messages - either pro- or anti-tobacco - had any meaningful impact on their current behavior. Group members did, however, recognize that media messages influenced their behavior at the time they were first starting to smoke. The failure of these messages to connect with this population may reflect the lack of specific tailoring of messages to fit the distinct culture and values of this Appalachian population.
美国食品药品监督管理局对烟草产品进行监管的一项关键内容是了解烟草产品的宣传与营销情况，以及不同地理、年龄、种族、民族和社会经济群体对其感知到的风险。此类信息对于烟草使用率高且承受着不成比例的烟草相关疾病负担的人群亚组或地理区域可能尤为有用。对于某些人群而言，地理区域特有的其他文化因素可能会促使吸烟行为的发生。本研究的目的是调查阿巴拉契亚农村地区本地人群样本对烟草相关媒体信息的看法，该人群的吸烟率高于全国平均水平，且受烟草相关癌症和其他癌症的影响尤为严重。
在宾夕法尼亚州中北部地区，即该州52个被指定为阿巴拉契亚地区的县之一，开展了一系列共四场焦点小组会议。参与者通过直邮信件、当地报纸上的广告以及张贴在当地图书馆的招募传单进行招募。焦点小组由宾夕法尼亚州立大学调查研究中心（CSR）训练有素的专业人员主持。焦点小组会议旨在调查宾夕法尼亚州阿巴拉契亚地区对烟草相关媒体的看法。会议进行了录音和转录，并采用定性方法对数据进行了分析。
参与者报告称，支持烟草的广告和正面信息通过互联网、直邮、便利店、广告牌、电影及其他渠道获得。反烟草信息主要来自电视和杂志。总体而言，参与者认为戒烟是个人选择问题，不受支持或反对烟草的媒体影响。
这些结果表明，来自各种渠道的支持和反对烟草的信息在阿巴拉契亚地区得到了高度认可且被详细记住，但该群体中反烟草信息的有效性值得怀疑。研究发现，无一例外，小组成员报告称，无论是支持还是反对烟草的媒体信息，都对他们目前的行为没有任何有意义的影响。然而，小组成员确实认识到，媒体信息在他们刚开始吸烟时影响了他们的行为。这些信息未能与该人群产生关联，可能反映出信息缺乏针对该阿巴拉契亚人群独特文化和价值观的具体定制。
