In order to persuade someone to quit smoking, it is the ’emotions’ that need to be triggered rather than inciting fear in an individual.
A new study by Michigan State University researchers has found out the following which was published in Communication Research Reports.
Researchers found that, when shown a public service announcement designed to induce nostalgia, people who smoke were more likely to display negative attitudes toward smoking and exhibit a greater intention to quit, compared with smokers shown a non-nostalgic message.
Study authors Ali Hussain and Maria Lapinski, of Michigan State University, say that their findings suggest that quit-smoking campaigns should focus on producing nostalgia-evoking messages rather than ones that evoke negative emotions such as fear and guilt.
Advertisers often use nostalgia-evoking messages to promote consumer products, and that tactic could be just as effective in encouraging healthy behaviours, argue Ali Hussain, a doctoral candidate in the School of Journalism, and Maria Lapinski, professor in the Department of Communication.
“A lot of no-smoking messages are centred around fear, disgust and guilt,” Hussain said. “But smokers often don’t buy the messages and instead feel bad about themselves and the person who is trying to scare them.”
For their study, Hussain and Lapinski sought to determine whether nostalgia-evoking messages – which are often used in advertising campaigns – might be more effective in encouraging people who smoke to quit.
The team enrolled a group of smokers aged between 18 and 39. Some of the smokers were shown a nostalgic public service announcement (PSA), while the remaining participants were shown a non-nostalgic PSA.
The nostalgic PSA consisted of childhood images combined with narration. The narrator used phrases such as “I remember when I was a boy” and “I miss the simplicity of life, being outside on a warm summer night,” while referring to familiar scents and tastes from childhood. The narrator concludes by talking about the time he was first offered cigarettes.
Compared with smokers who viewed the non-nostalgic PSA, those who viewed the nostalgic PSA reported feeling greater nostalgic emotions.
Importantly, smokers who viewed the nostalgic PSA also reported greater negative attitudes toward smoking and greater intention to quit the habit, compared with those who viewed the non-nostalgic PSA.
The researchers explain that nostalgic PSAs increase viewers’ engagement by arousing images of their own treasured memories, which can impact attitudes and behaviour. They believe that such PSAs may be useful to help people quit smoking.
“Our study, which to our knowledge is first of its kind, shows promise for using nostalgic messages to promote pro-social behaviours. We know that policy and environmental changes have an influence on smoking and this study indicates persuasive messages can influence smoking attitudes”, Lapinsky concluded.
