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

Abstract #72579

Lisa Henriksen, PhD¹, Dominique E. Johnson, MA², Amanda Dauphinee¹, and Harry Haladjian, BA¹. (1) Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention, Stanford University School of Medicine, 1000 Welch Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304, 650-723-7053, lhenriksen@stanford.edu, (2) Department of Communication, Stanford University, McClatchy Hall, Stanford, CA 94305

High smoking rates among 18- to 24-year-olds and the large proportion in this age group who desire to quit provide a compelling rationale for research about young adults’ reactions to tobacco advertising and its role in perpetuating tobacco use. The prediction that advertising stimulates craving and deters quitting seems obvious, but has been subject to few empirical tests. In this study, a content analysis of magazines tested the hypothesis that in an effort to counter resolutions to quit, tobacco companies place more ads in January and February than in other months. Ten magazines were selected for their wide reach among young-adult readers (between 1.5 and 5.2 million). The sample (approximately 1,500 issues) was comprised of a census of six monthly magazines (Cosmopolitan, Ebony, Jet, Life, Mademoiselle, Redbook) from 1993-2002, and a random sample of four weekly magazines (Newsweek, People, Sports Illustrated, Time) from the same period. Trained coders counted the number of ad pages devoted to cigarettes and categorized the back cover as an ad for cigarettes, alcohol or another product. Analyses compared the monthly rates of tobacco and alcohol advertising as well as comparing the prevalence of cigarette ads before and after the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement. Higher rates of tobacco ads in January and February than in other months replicate and extend a previous finding suggesting that the placement of cigarette ads in magazines is designed to discourage smokers from attempting to quit.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will learn the results of a content analysis about seasonal variation in the prevalence of magazine ads for tobacco and alcohol, as well as how to conduct a content analysis of such messages.

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.