Use of provocative emotional appeals in a mass media campaign designed to prevent smoking among adolescents

This paper describes short-term reactions to the first of 3 consecutive mass media campaigns designed to explore new approaches to prevent the onset of smoking among adolescents. Based on provocative emotional appeals, the first campaign specifically targeted girls aged 14 and 15 years. We hypothesized that through actively provoking adolescents and thereby creating a discussion among them, a process of interpersonal communication might influence smoking behaviour. The mass media campaign consisted of 3 different newspaper advertisements, 1 poster and 1 TV and cinema spot. The study population consisted of all adolescents aged 14 and 15 years in 1 county in Norway. A questionnaire, measuring short-term reactions to the first campaign, was mailed to the home addresses of the adolescents in the intervention county only (n=5,051). The response rate was 80%. More than 60% recalled having been exposed to the campaign. The campaign, which targeted smoking girls in particular, obtained more attention and led to more discussion and stronger negative emotional reactions among smoking girls than among any other group. Positive behavioural reactions to the campaign outnumbered negative behavioural reactions. 'Discussed the campaign with significant others' turned out to be the strongest predictor of positive behavioural reactions both among smokers and non-smokers. Significant associations between positive affective reactions and positive behavioural reactions were also observed.