Ads in Cinemas - Do They Develop Anti-Tobacco Attitudes Among Youth? Sue Walker - Research Manager Heidi Flaxman - Youth Marketing Manager

The Problem Still too many young people smoking.. Still too many young people smoking.. Smoking Prevalence - Yr 10 Students (ASH Yr 10 Survey 2006) MalesFemales Maori20.7%37% Pacific13.9%21.4% Euro/Other8.1%12.9%

The Goal -to increase anti-tobacco attitudes among young people aged years Primary Objective: -increase negative perceptions of social outcomes of tobacco use Secondary Objectives: -to correct misconceptions of smoking prevalence in NZ -increase self-efficacy of refusing tobacco -de-normalise smoking among young people -increase anti tobacco-industry attitudes among young people -to decrease the influence of movies depicting smoking on youth audiences

The Target Audience young people aged years, especially young women young people aged years, especially young women Maori Maori Pacific Pacific young people from low-socio-economic households young people from low-socio-economic households

How to influence attitudes? Evidence – shows that advertising is effective in developing anti-tobacco attitudes and reducing the influence of smoking in movies Evidence – shows that advertising is effective in developing anti-tobacco attitudes and reducing the influence of smoking in movies > Center for Prevention Research and Development (2005) > Edwards, CA et al (2004 & 2007) > Wilson, N (2007) > Price, L (2007) – Tobacco in the media and youth smoking - on

How to Influence Attitudes? Evidence – also shows that celebrities can be an effective way to communicate with young people Evidence – also shows that celebrities can be an effective way to communicate with young people > Borland, Naccavella and Hill (1998) - young people with low self-esteem tend to identify with TV characters, watch more TV, perceive what they see as real and want to be like the TV characters in comparison to youth with higher self esteem > Freeman B, et al (2004) - young people are accepting of smoking imagery that fits with their expectations of a particular personality, or social/cultural context

The Challenges Limited funding Limited funding Limited time Limited time Limited number of celebrities who fit the criteria Limited number of celebrities who fit the criteria Evaluating effectiveness of one cinema ad Evaluating effectiveness of one cinema ad

The Solution (1) Developed and piloted an ad that: Developed and piloted an ad that: –played in cinemas in areas where the target audience lived –played prior to movies likely to be popular with the target audience –featured celebrities popular with the target audience, and who displayed the desired characteristics Evaluated the impact of the ad on the target audience Evaluated the impact of the ad on the target audience

The Solution (2) Countered cost / time constraints by: Countered cost / time constraints by: –employing low-cost technology and youth- centred channels –reinforcing messages from cinema ads by: > developing a campaign website > running a text competition > using supporting media (print, and outdoor ads) > using YouTube and other unpaid media

The films The films

The Cinema Ad

Does it Work? To evaluate the impact of the advertisements on the target audience: To evaluate the impact of the advertisements on the target audience: –over to14-year-olds were recruited (with parental consent) –assigned to a control (no ad) and exposed group (ad shown before a movie) –completed questionnaires pre- and post- movie – analysis compares responses –research by Research Solutions Ltd

Pre- and post-movie attitudes Responses were mostly consistent pre and post-movie – no evidence that the ad is causing an immediate change in attitudes towards smoking – consistent with another NZ study

What they thought about the ad But - responses to the ad were very positive – especially for Pacific youth

What they thought about celebrities     = significant at 95% confidence level Overall the ad has a positive persuasion profile. The celebrities are key to its persuasiveness.

Where to From Here? Upgraded to mass media campaign (TV, radio, bus shelter, internet, posters) Upgraded to mass media campaign (TV, radio, bus shelter, internet, posters) Campaign likely to extend until at least mid-2008 Campaign likely to extend until at least mid-2008 Further evaluation planned Further evaluation planned