Recognition and Liking of Tobacco and Alcohol Advertisements Among Adolescents: Relationships with Susceptibility to Substance Use

Introduction:
This text is a study on the relationship between adolescents' susceptibility to substance use and their recognition and liking of tobacco and alcohol advertising. The study investigates whether favorable reactions to advertising are an antecedent to or a consequence of substance use. The study involved eighth-grade students who were divided into three substance use status groups: nonsusceptible nonusers, susceptible nonusers, and users.

Key Points:

* The study found that susceptible nonusers liked the tobacco advertisements more than nonsusceptible nonsmokers and at a level comparable to that of the users.
* Liking of the alcohol advertisements generally increased with alcohol use status.
* Exposure to and awareness of tobacco and alcohol advertising is positively correlated with adolescents' use of these substances.
* Advertising campaigns can influence adolescent substance use, and experimental studies have shown that students who watch television programs with alcohol commercials choose to drink more alcohol in subsequent taste tests than students who see the same programs without the commericals.
* Adolescents who have not yet experimented with substance use but are considering doing so have more favorable opinions of tobacco and alcohol advertising than those who are not contemplating experimentation.
* The study used two different notebooks containing 20 pictures taken from magazine and television advertisements, including 6 cigarette advertisements, 5 alcohol advertisements, and 9 other advertisements.
* The advertisements were selected to represent specific marketing strategies, such as appeals to masculinity or femininity, people having fun, fashion, elegance, and romance.
* The advertisements were digitized and retouched to remove verbal references to the product and brand, but slogans such as "---Country" were retained.

Main Message:
The study suggests that tobacco advertisements targeted at adult smokers may have the effect of recruiting new adolescent smokers. Advertising can influence adolescent substance use, and adolescents who have not yet experimented with substance use but are considering doing so have more favorable opinions of tobacco and alcohol advertising than those who are not contemplating experimentation. Therefore, regulations on tobacco and alcohol advertising are necessary to protect adolescents from the negative effects of advertising.

Unger, J.B., C.A. Johnson, and L.A. Rohrbach. “Recognition and Liking of Tobacco and Alcohol Advertisements Among Adolescents: Relationships with Susceptibility to Substance Use.” Preventive Medicine 24, no. 5 (September 1995): 461–66. https://doi.org/10.1006/pmed.1995.1074.