Effects of anti-tobacco advertisements based on risk-taking tendencies: Realistic fear vs. vulgar humor

This study examined effects of two different types of anti-tobacco advertisements (realistic fear ads vs. vulgar humor ads). Results indicate that rebellious participants who watched the realistic fear ads reported higher levels of interest than those who watched the vulgar humor ads. As expected, there was a strong negative correlation between participant rebelliousness and intention to quit smoking after watching realistic fear ads, a correlation not present among those who watched vulgar humor ads. Impulsive participants reported more interest in the realistic fear ads than in the vulgar humor ads, but their intentions to change smoking behavior were not affected by the different types of messages.