Smoking is a significant contributor to preventable illness and premature death. It has also been shown to be a major contributor to social inequalities in health. The uptake of smoking among young people and the perpetuation of smoking into adult life is a concern for the UK Government. Deterring non-smokers starting to smoke and encouraging young smokers to quit is a serious public health issue that has long term consequences in terms of future health gains and associated costs to the NHS and the wider economy. A range of interventions have been proposed, developed, evaluated and implemented to deter smoking among young people. Conventional economic theory suggests that young people are more sensitive than adults to price in determining their consumption behaviour. The aim of this study was to systematically review the evidence on the effects of price as an economic instrument to target youth smoking. The majority of studies assessing the impact of price on smoking behaviour are best described as econometric analyses of observational survey data. There is huge variation in the surveys used and the empirical methods adopted, coupled with concerns about the overall quality and representativeness of most of the surveys employed. Most of the studies also failed to report adequate detail about the surveys, price (or tax) data and about the empirical methods used. Bearing in mind these shortcomings, the overall findings of the review suggest that price is an effective instrument in modifying the smoking behaviour of young people. The evidence suggests that increases in price reduce smoking participation and prevalence, as well as the level of smoking. Increased price also induces reductions in smoking initiation and increases in quit rates. There is, however, heterogeneity in the size of the effect for each of these outcomes, with a range of estimated effects reported. The results support the notion that price should be viewed as a legitimate instrument to be used alongside other policies aimed at reducing cigarette consumption among young people.
Because previous research and reviews on the effect of cigarette advertising bans on cigarette consumption have reported mixed results, the effectiveness of cigarette advertising bans has been a point of controversy. To ascertain the efficacy of cigarette advertising bans, the current research is a quantitative integration (meta-analysis) of the entire available published cigarette advertising ban research conducted to determine what impact, if any, advertising bans have on cigarette smoking behavior. Results of the meta-analysis show that cigarette advertising bans do not have a significant effect on cigarette consumption.
The aim of this review was to synthesise evidence evaluating the effectiveness of mass media interventions on helping people to quit smoking/tobacco use and/or to prevent relapse. These interventions were considered for both the effectiveness of the channel of communication and also for the effectiveness of message content, and this is reported under six research questions. Particular emphasis was placed on evaluating relevance to the UK setting and effectiveness within population groups such as young people, pregnant smokers and hard to reach communities.
CONTEXT: Active and passive smoking are the first and third leading preventable causes of death. Many states are running or initiating antitobacco media campaigns.
OBJECTIVE: To review research on the effectiveness of different antismoking messages and published evidence of the effectiveness of paid antismoking advertising.
DATA SOURCES: Focus group studies conducted by professional advertising agencies that contract with California, Massachusetts, and Michigan to run their antismoking advertising campaigns, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Media Campaign Resource Book, and copies of the advertisements. In total, we reviewed the results of 186 focus groups involving more than 1500 children and adults dealing with 118 advertisements that had actually been aired and additional concept advertisements that were not produced. Published literature was located using MEDLINE and standard bibliographic sources on the effectiveness of large, paid antitobacco media campaigns. We also reviewed reports and studies conducted by, or for, the California and Massachusetts health departments on program effectiveness, and conducted our own comparison of California vs Massachusetts using cigarette consumption data from the Tobacco Institute.
STUDY SELECTION: All available studies.
DATA SYNTHESIS: Eight advertising strategies to prevent people from starting to smoke and persuading them to stop were reviewed: industry manipulation, secondhand smoke, addiction, cessation, youth access, short-term effects, long-term health effects, and romantic rejection. These focus groups identified strategies that would be expected to be effective and ineffective. Regression analysis was used to compare the cost-effectiveness of the California and Massachusetts programs.
CONCLUSIONS: Focus group participants indicated that industry manipulation and secondhand smoke are the most effective strategies for denormalizing smoking and reducing cigarette consumption. Addiction and cessation can be effective when used in conjunction with the industry manipulation and secondhand smoke strategies. Youth access, short-term effects, long-term health effects, and romantic rejection are not effective strategies. More aggressive advertising strategies appear to be more effective at reducing tobacco consumption.
Smoking is a significant contributor to preventable illness and premature death. It has also been shown to be a major contributor to social inequalities in health. The uptake of smoking among young people and the perpetuation of smoking into adult life is a concern for the UK Government. Deterring non-smokers starting to smoke and encouraging young smokers to quit is a serious public health issue that has long term consequences in terms of future health gains and associated costs to the NHS and the wider economy. A range of interventions have been proposed, developed, evaluated and implemented to deter smoking among young people. Conventional economic theory suggests that young people are more sensitive than adults to price in determining their consumption behaviour. The aim of this study was to systematically review the evidence on the effects of price as an economic instrument to target youth smoking. The majority of studies assessing the impact of price on smoking behaviour are best described as econometric analyses of observational survey data. There is huge variation in the surveys used and the empirical methods adopted, coupled with concerns about the overall quality and representativeness of most of the surveys employed. Most of the studies also failed to report adequate detail about the surveys, price (or tax) data and about the empirical methods used. Bearing in mind these shortcomings, the overall findings of the review suggest that price is an effective instrument in modifying the smoking behaviour of young people. The evidence suggests that increases in price reduce smoking participation and prevalence, as well as the level of smoking. Increased price also induces reductions in smoking initiation and increases in quit rates. There is, however, heterogeneity in the size of the effect for each of these outcomes, with a range of estimated effects reported. The results support the notion that price should be viewed as a legitimate instrument to be used alongside other policies aimed at reducing cigarette consumption among young people.
