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Impact of tobacco advertising and promotion on increasing adolescent smoking behaviours

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Lovato, Chris, Watts, Allison, Stead, Lindsay F·2011·Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
DOI 10.1002/14651858.cd003439.pub2PMC PMC7173757
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: The tobacco industry denies that their marketing is targeted at young nonsmokers, but it seems more probable that tobacco advertising and promotion influences the attitudes of nonsmoking adolescents, and makes them more likely to try smoking. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects of tobacco advertising and promotion on nonsmoking adolescents' future smoking behaviour. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Tobacco Group specialized register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, the Cochrane Library, Sociological Abstracts, PsycLIT, ERIC, WorldCat, Dissertation Abstracts, ABI Inform and Current Contents to August 2011. SELECTION CRITERIA: We selected longitudinal studies that assessed individuals' smoking behaviour and exposure to advertising, receptivity or attitudes to tobacco advertising, or brand awareness at baseline, and assessed smoking behaviour at follow ups. Participants were adolescents aged 18 or younger who were not regular smokers at baseline. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Studies were prescreened for relevance by one reviewer. Two reviewers independently assessed relevant studies for inclusion. Data were extracted by one reviewer and checked by a second. MAIN RESULTS: Nineteen longitudinal studies that followed up a total of over 29,000 baseline nonsmokers met inclusion criteria. The studies measured exposure or receptivity to advertising and promotion in a variety of ways, including having a favourite advertisement or an index of receptivity based on awareness of advertising and ownership of a promotional item. One study measured the number of tobacco advertisements in magazines read by participants. All studies assessed smoking behaviour change in participants who reported not smoking at baseline. In 18 of the 19 studies the nonsmoking adolescents who were more aware of tobacco advertising or receptive to it, were more likely to have experimented with cigarettes or become smokers at follow up. There was variation in the strength of association, and the degree to which potential confounders were controlled for. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Longitudinal studies consistently suggest that exposure to tobacco advertising and promotion is associated with the likelihood that adolescents will start to smoke. Based on the strength and specificity of this association, evidence of a dose-response relationship, the consistency of findings across numerous observational studies, temporality of exposure and smoking behaviours observed, as well as the theoretical plausibility regarding the impact of advertising, we conclude that tobacco advertising and promotion increases the likelihood that adolescents will start to smoke.

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  • There was variation in the strength of association between tobacco advertising/promotion policies and adolescent smoking and in the degree to which potential confounders were controlled for.

    “However, there was variation in the strength of association and the degree to which potential confounders were controlled for.”

    From Interventions for Adolescent Substance Abuse: An Overview of Systematic Reviews (2016) · cites this paper as [42]

    The Discussion (page unavailable) says that, among cross-sectional studies, the strength of the association between smoking and advertising exposure and the extent of confounding adjustment varied. This supports the citing sentence’s description of variation, but the passage concerns advertising exposure, not tobacco advertising or promotion policies. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Tobacco advertising and promotion policies increase the likelihood of adolescents to start smoking.

    “A review evaluating the effect of tobacco advertising and promotion suggests that these policies increase the likelihood of adolescents to start smoking [42].”

    From Interventions for Adolescent Substance Abuse: An Overview of Systematic Reviews (2016) · cites this paper as [42]

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Research works printed but not linked: 69

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Cited by

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Authors
Lovato, C., Watts, A., & Stead, L. F.
Affiliations
  • University of British Columbia (CA)
  • University of Oxford (GB)
ORCID
Watts, Allison
Venue
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2011-10-05
Volume
2011
Issue
10
Pages
CD003439-CD003439
ISSN
  • 1361-6137 (ISSN-L)
  • 1465-1858
DOI
10.1002/14651858.cd003439.pub2
PMC
PMC7173757
OpenAlex
W1600860612
Cited by
505
References
0
Citations by year
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FWCI
3.13
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Smoking Behavior and Cessation
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Global Public Health Policies and Epidemiology
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
Keywords
tobacco advertising, tobacco promotion, adolescent smoking, smoking initiation, tobacco industry marketing, brand awareness, promotional products
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adolescent Behavior, Advertising, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Smoking, Tobacco Use Disorder

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