The Power of Advertising
Does anybody pay attention to advertising? Can vaping ads really convince non-smokers to vape?
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by Dave Cross
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China has banned all forms of direct advertising for cigarettes, and plans to extend this to electronic cigarettes. The current advertising law bans tobacco firms from advertising through broadcasting channels, films, TV, newspapers, magazines, theatres, waiting rooms, conference rooms and playgrounds.
What it failed to address is Big Tobacco’s initiative and drive to promote brand recognition by using alternative techniques. This takes the form of selling branded garments, coffee and luxury goods from branded stalls and shops. While this reflects nothing more than companies attempting to cannibalise custom for rivals, to what extent can any form of advertising convince someone to buy a product they aren’t interested in?
It’s a question that researchers at Roswell Park Cancer Institute have sought to answer. The team, led by Danielle Smith, have released provisional findings in the Tobacco Induced Diseases journal. They write: “This pilot study was conducted to assess whether exposure to ads for e-cigarettes or a comparison product (snus), elicited differences in interest to try e-cigarettes between smokers and non-smokers.”
A web-based survey was completed by 600 respondents, aged 18-65, recruited from an internet panel in the U.S. Respondents answered questions assessing tobacco use, and then viewed nine magazine ads for Blu e-cigarettes or Camel snus, a low-nitrosamine smokeless tobacco product, in random order.
After viewing each ad, respondents were asked a series of questions about their perceptions, beliefs, attitudes, and interest in trial. At the end, respondents were asked to choose a free sample product from the following options: an e-cigarette, smokeless tobacco (SLT), pack of cigarettes, or no product.
Results:
- Participants exposed to e-cigarette ads more frequently reported favourable product attitudes compared to participants exposed to snus ads. Cigarette smokers in the e-cigarette condition were more likely to report interest in trying e-cigarettes compared to non-smokers in that condition.
- Six percent of non-smokers exposed to e-cigarette ads reported interest in trying e-cigarettes. E-cigarettes were the most popular product selected to sample (34%), followed by cigarettes (8%) and SLT (3%); 331 respondents (55%) chose no product.
- Participants randomized to the e-cigarette ad group were significantly more likely to choose an e-cigarette at product selection.
- Within the e-cigarette condition, 71% of smokers selected an e-cigarette at product selection, compared to 25% of non-smokers; smoking status was significantly associated with sample product selection.
Of interest to those advocating ecig use as a harm-reduction tool, and worried about a potential advertising ban, they concluded: “These findings suggest that exposure to e-cigarette ads may be associated with interest in e-cigarette trial, particularly among smokers. Continued exposure to advertising in magazines, on television, and at the point-of-sale may have an impact on willingness to receive promotional products or intention to try e-cigarettes.”
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
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