The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #72571

Harry Haladjian, BA and Lisa Henriksen, PhD. Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention, Stanford University School of Medicine, 1000 Welch Road, #100, Palo Alto, CA 94304, (650) 725-9827, haladjian@stanford.edu

Smoking initiation is associated with better memory for and more favorable opinions of tobacco advertising. However, less is known about whether adolescents’ intentions to smoke predispose never smokers to be attentive and attracted to pro-tobacco messages. Data for this study were drawn from an experiment about the effects of young people’s exposure to widespread tobacco advertising in stores. Under the guise of testing teen-interest news stories, 8th and 9th graders (n=194) saw pictures of the exterior and interior of a convenience store that was saturated with tobacco ads. Memory for cigarette brand names was measured by unaided recall immediately after a distraction task and by aided recall approximately 20 minutes after exposure. Two items asked students to rate their interest in shopping at the pictured store and the likelihood that it sells their favorite snacks. Questions about intention to smoke and ever trying were used to categorize respondents in terms of susceptibility to smoke. Compared to nonsusceptible never smokers, susceptible never smokers and experimenters recalled seeing more cigarette brands, although the three groups did not differ in their ability to recall tobacco brand names correctly. Moreover, susceptible never smokers and experimenters perceived the tobacco-saturated store more favorably than nonsusceptible never smokers. These results support a theory that smoking susceptibility is indicative of a self-schema that enhances adolescents’ memory for and attraction to tobacco advertising. By demonstrating that favorable responses to tobacco advertising precede experimentation, this study also supports the hypothesis that advertising encourages adolescent tobacco use.

Learning Objectives:

• This presentation will:
• 2. Discuss the differences between adolescents who are more likely to remember and attend to tobacco advertising and those who do not.
  4. Describe self-schema, smoking susceptibility, and other theories that may be used to classify adolescent behavior.
  6. Assess experimental design of school-based advertising study.

Keywords: Tobacco, Adolescents

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.