A new study has found that a change in behavior among smokers has been observed in response to anti-smoking ads with strong arguments rather than ads with flashy edits.
Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found that brains of smokers are more responsive to anti-smoking ads with strong arguments rather than ads with flashy edits like loud sounds, bright and rapidly changing scenes and unexpected scenario twists.
Smokers who responded to the anti-smoking ads with strong arguments were also found to have less nicotine metabolites in their urine after a month of watching such ads.
The study is the first of its kind to find a link between cognitive activities in relation to content and format in televised ads and behavior. For the study, the team of researchers led by Daniel D. Langleben, M.D., a psychiatrist in the Center for Studies of Addiction at Penn Medicine, identified the part of the brain that responds to ads in 71 smokers that were not looking for any kind of treatment for their smoking habit.
After a month of watching anti-smoking ads with both strong and weak arguments, the urine of these participants was tested for cotinine levels. Cotinine is a combination of nicotine and metabolites. It was found that the people who watched anti-smoking ads with strong arguments had a lesser level of cotinine in their urine than people who watched the ads with weaker arguments.
"We investigated the two major dimensions of any piece of media, content and format, which are both important here," said Dr. Langleben, who is also an associate professor in the department of Psychiatry. "If you give someone an unconvincing ad, it doesn't matter what format you do on top of that. You can make it sensational. But in terms of effectiveness, content is more important. You're better off adding in more sophisticated editing and other special effects only if it is persuasive."
The study was published online April 23 in the Journal of Neuroscience.
