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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Amanda L. Dauphinee, BA¹, Lisa Henriksen, PhD¹, Nina C. Schleicher, PhD², and Stephen P. Fortmann, MD¹. (1) Stanford Prevention Research Center, Stanford University, 211 Quarry Road, Stanford, CA 94305-5705, 650-736-0285, adauph@stanford.edu, (2) Public Health Institute, 555 12th Street, Oakland, CA 94607

Adolescent smokers can recall and recognize more cigarette brand names than adolescents who have never smoked. However, inferences about advertising effects are limited by the fact that most of the studies are cross-sectional and do not control for social influences to smoke. This longitudinal study examined the relationship between adolescents' cigarette brand knowledge at baseline and smoking initiation at 1-year follow-up. Data were drawn from in-class surveys of middle school students (n=2,125) in Tracy, CA. Never smokers at baseline with follow-up data (n=1,207) were 42% male, 40% Hispanic, 52% White, 14% Asian or Filipino, 5% African American, 23% mixed, and 6% other or unreported. To assess brand knowledge, students were asked to (1) list all the brand names they could think of and (2) identify the brand for 6 pictures of cigarette packs or ads with the brand name removed. Without prompting, 60% of never smokers recalled Camel, 48% recalled Marlboro, and 6% recalled Newport, the three brands most popular with adolescents. When shown ads with the brand names removed, 67% of never smokers correctly identified Camel, 45% correctly identified Marlboro, and 7% correctly identified Newport. Approximately 19% of students reported ever smoking after one year. Brand knowledge at baseline predicted smoking initiation at follow-up (OR=1.48, CI=1.03, 2.16), but not after controlling for social influences to smoke. Knowledge of cigarette brands is relatively high among adolescent never smokers and exposure to such advertising remains a risk factor for smoking initiation.

Learning Objectives:

• Learn about adolescent cigarette brand knowledge.
• Recognize the impact of cigarette advertising on adolescent smoking initiation.
• Understand the difference between recall and recognition of advertising.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered