Australian Smokers’ and Non-Smokers’ Exposure to Anti-Smoking Warnings in Day-to-Day Life: A Pilot Study
Menée en Australie auprès de 70 participants ayant une pratique tabagique ou n'ayant jamais fumé, cette étude analyse, dans leur vie quotidienne, leur attitude vis-à-vis de messages de lutte contre le tabagisme
Introduction : Smokers and non-smokers can encounter a variety of anti-smoking messages in their everyday life. Anti-smoking warnings often involve fear appeals to which particularly smokers may react in a defensive manner by avoiding or derogating the messages, or downplaying their personal risk. However, previous studies testing the effects of anti-smoking warnings have either been retrospective or lab-based, thus introducing potential recall biases and yielding limited ecological validity. We used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to give an overview on the number, type, and locations where individuals encounter such messages and to examine their immediate reactions. Methods : In an EMA study, 33 smokers and 37 never-smokers logged every encounter with anti-smoking warnings during 2.5 weeks (1,237 participant days of monitoring). After randomly selected encounters, several markers of defensiveness were assessed. Results : On average, non-smokers reported noticing significantly fewer warnings than smokers (M = 0.49/day vs. M = 2.14/day). Both groups saw the majority of warnings on cigarette packages. Smokers reported a significantly higher level of message derogation and a significantly lower level of message acceptance than non-smokers. There were no differences in feelings of vulnerability between smokers and non-smokers upon encountering the warnings. Conclusions : The overall number of encounters with anti-smoking warnings in people’s everyday life is relatively low, particularly among smokers. Smokers are likely to avoid messages and respond defensively, thus limiting their potential effectiveness.