Anti-Smoking Product Ads May Help Smokers Quit

Smokers may be more likely to quit if they view more ads for smoking-cessation products, a new study at Cornell has revealed.

The study, which will be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Political Economy, was conducted by polling 28,303 current or former smokers about their magazine reading habits and then analyzing the advertising data in 26 publications. Researchers found that just seeing the ads - even without buying the product - made smokers more likely to try quitting.

Alan Mathios, a co-author of the study and a professor of policy analysis and management studies at the university, said that the results of the study may also have use for other pharmaceuticals, like cholesterol-lowering drugs.

"We think that the reason may be that important 'spillover effects' from advertising may be occurring, which has important implications for advertising for a wide range of health products," Mathios said in a press release.

The study also found that smokers who do not read any magazines are also less likely to quit. Meanwhile, those smokers who read magazines free of cigarette ads, or who read magazines focused on health and parenting, are more likely to give up the habit.

The Cornell researchers estimated that this phenomenon could have a large impact on public health. If the manufacturers of stop-smoking products spent 10 percent more annually on magazine ads, they calculated, it would add up to about 80,000 more "quits" each year.

The same Cornell researchers also completed a study in 2006 that found consumers view more ads for non-prescription stop-smoking aids than similar products that require a prescription. Ads for OTC products are less restricted than prescription ones, so transforming the prescription products to OTC might make them more heavily advertised and possibly help more people to quit, according to the press release.

The United States is home to approximately 44.5 million smokers, say the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At least two-thirds of quitters try to stop using the "cold turkey" method, according to the press release. About 20 percent of quitters employ the use of a stop-smoking product to help them break the habit.

Smoking is responsible for about 1 in 5 deaths in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society. It accounts for 87 percent of all lung cancer deaths, and 30 percent of all cancer deaths overall. It can also lead to other related illnesses, such as emphysema, heart disease, stroke and bronchitis.

Cornell University. "Effect of ads for smoking cessation products." http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/July07/smokingAds.sl.html

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Cigarette smoking among adults - United States, 2004. MMWR. 2005;54:1121-1124. Available at: www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5444a2.htm. Accessed September 21, 2006.

American Cancer Society. "Cigarette Smoking." http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/PED_10_2X_Cigarette_Smoking.asp