NCJ Number
233687
Journal
Journal of Drug Education Volume: 40 Issue: 3 Dated: 2010 Pages: 227-244
Date Published
2010
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This study tested the effectiveness of a series of magazine advertising warning messages that had been modified both textually and graphically in an attempt to capture the attention of teenage audiences and clearly instruct them of the dangers of smoking.
Abstract
This study examined whether the inclusion of Canadian-style graphic images would improve the degree to which adolescents attended to, and subsequently were able to recall, novel warning messages in tobacco magazine advertising. Specifically, our goal was to determine if the inclusion of graphic images would 1) increase visual attention, as measured by eye movement patterns and fixation density, and 2) improve memory for tobacco advertisements among a group of 12 to 14 year olds in the Western United States. Data were collected from 32 middle school students using a head-mounted eye-tracking device that recorded viewing time, scan path patterns, fixation locations, and dwell time. Participants viewed a series of 20 magazine advertisements that included 5 United States tobacco ads with traditional Surgeon General warning messages and 5 United States tobacco ads that had been modified to include nontraditional messages and Canadian-style graphic images. Following eye tracking, participants completed unaided- and aided-recall exercises. Overall, the participants spent equal amounts of time viewing the advertisements regardless of the type of warning message. However, the warning messages that included the graphic images generated higher levels of visual attention directed specifically toward the message, based on average dwell time and fixation frequency, and were more likely to be accurately recalled than the traditional warning messages. (Published Abstract) Figures, tables, and references