CDC's Tips From Former Smokers (Tips) Campaign: State Variation in Quitline Calls during a National Tobacco Education Campaign

Introduction: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launched the first federally-funded national tobacco education campaign, “Tips From Former Smokers” (Tips), during March 19^th-June 10^th, 2012. Campaign ads, which were tagged with 1-800-QUIT-NOW, resulted in large increases in quitline calls nationwide.  The objective of this study was to examine the impact of Tips on state-specific quitline call volumes.

Methods: Tips campaign exposure was measured by gross rating points (GRPs).  State-specific calls to 1-800-QUIT-NOW were assigned based on area code origin of each call. Multivariate regression was used to assess the relationship between calls to state quitlines and media market-level Tips GRPs for television and radio, while controlling for ads placed by states and market and area code characteristics.

Results: Tips GRPs were associated with significant increases in quitline calls, both nationally and in 44 states. Of these states, five experienced effects significantly larger than the national average, while three experienced significantly smaller effects than the national average. The campaign was not significantly associated with quitline calls in seven states. Of these states, three supplemented the national campaign with placements of Tips ads in their local markets using state funds; these state-purchased GRPs were associated with significant increases in quitline calls.

Conclusions: The Tips campaign increased calls to quitlines across most states, with some states experiencing greater increases in calls than the national average and others experiencing lower increases or no change. These findings underscore the importance and effectiveness of national tobacco media campaigns for reaching audiences at the state level.