• About
    • About
    • What is Public Interest Communications?
    • Our Team
    • Theories We Use
    • What We’ve Shared
    • Center Updates
    • Programs & Affiliates
      • frank gathering
      • The Research Prize in Public Interest Communications
      • Journal of Public Interest Communications
      • UF Programs
    • Contact Us
  • Our Services
    • Strategy Consulting
    • Issue Research
    • Training – Frameworks and Custom
  • Frameworks & Resources
  • Training
  • Case Studies
Center for Public Interest Communications
Support
  • About
    • About
    • What is Public Interest Communications?
    • Our Team
    • Theories We Use
    • What We’ve Shared
    • Center Updates
    • Programs & Affiliates
      • frank gathering
      • The Research Prize in Public Interest Communications
      • Journal of Public Interest Communications
      • UF Programs
    • Contact Us
  • Our Services
    • Strategy Consulting
    • Issue Research
    • Training – Frameworks and Custom
  • Frameworks & Resources
  • Training
  • Case Studies
  • Research & Insights

Research Says Anti-smoking Campaigns Should Target Social Media

  • August 10, 2015
  • 2 minute read
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0
0

New research suggests that social media images of smoking may encourage teens to light up.

Although public health communicators know that showing smoking on the silver screen can have adverse impacts on young people, little research has yet been done to determine whether this effect extends to social media, as well. To explore the topic, Jacob B. Depue, Brain G. Southwell, Anne E. Betzner, and Barbara M. Walsh designed a study involving young people and their social media accounts. The study results were published in the March/April 2015 issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion.

The study began with the researchers surveying 200 young adults (ages 18 – 24) about their own status as a smoker or non-smoker and their use of social media. Participants were asked whether they’d smoked in the past 30 days as well as “how often they had seen tobacco use on television, in movies, and in social media content (such as Facebook or MySpace).” They also responded to a variety of other questions about health behaviors and personal characteristics related to smoking.

Five months later, the researchers repeated the study, again asking the young people about their use of media and their smoking habits. They found that seeing smoking depicted on social media had a significant impact on whether or not the young people smoked. This relationship held true even when controlling for the effects of personal characteristics like sensation-seeking, long established to be a risk factor for smoking, and exposure to tobacco in mass media.

“Encoded exposure to social media depictions of tobacco use predicted later smoking,” the researchers say. The reason why may have to do with how people think about social media and their own lives.

“[T]he extent to which an individual identifies with people depicted on screen [in mass media] may amplify the likelihood of such depictions [of smoking] have an impact,” the researchers explain. “Social media content, which reflects user-generated content produced by an extended social network ostensibly connected to the viewer, may be a critical source for identification to occur.”

“Our work suggests that social media should be included as an important predictor in research that examines smoking behavior,” the researchers note. “From a health campaign perspective, our study suggests health practitioners ought to place a greater emphasis on curtailing social media’s influence on tobacco behaviors…and should counteract such influence with social media campaigns emphasizing peer influence…and the health consequences faced by online friends who smoke.”

American Journal of Health Promotion

Researchers:
Jacob B. Depue, Northeastern University and Professional Data Analysts
Brian G. Southwell, RTI International
Anne E. Betzner, Professional Data Analysts
Barbara M. Walsh, Connecticut Department of Public Health

0
0
0
Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Share 0
Related Topics
  • frankology
Previous Article
  • Research & Insights

Research Suggests That Media Coverage of the Flu is Nothing to Sneeze At

  • August 5, 2015
View Post
Next Article
  • Research & Insights

Flipping The Switch For Alternative-energy Power Plans

  • August 12, 2015
View Post
Think we can help with your goals? Read about our services and how we work.
Or reach out today to tell us a bit about your project and inquire how we might help.

 
 

Join our network

We'll send insights and opportunities when you least expect

More of our work
  • Photo by -slav-
    This Untapped Tool Could Help Boost Vaccination Rates
  • How We Are Making Sure The Science We Share Is Good
  • Photo by Klaus Nielsen:
    How to Use Stories to Bring ‘Us’ and ‘Them’ Together
  • Changing Mindsets, Changing the Rules
Latest from the Center
  • Teresa Gonzales and Nicole Bronzan
    Paper exploring local discursive frames of poverty and race wins 2023 research prize
  • Center welcomes two collaborators in research and strategy
  • 2023 Research Prize Finalists
    Center announces three finalists for the $10,000 public interest communications research prize
  • Rakeem Robinson
    Center honors the memory of colleague Rakeem Robinson
How We Help – Case Studies
  • illustration of hand holding United States flag
    Covering immigration in local news—an exploration by Define American
  • illustration
    Innovation Service of UNHCR: the UN Refugee Agency
  • BROKE project screenshot
    Re-examining narratives on poverty and wealth — the BROKE project

Subscribe

Keep up with our latest; request our periodic newsletter.

UF Logo

Center for Public Interest Communications
PO Box 118400
Gainesville, FL 32611-8400

An auxiliary unit of the College of Journalism and Communications

Copyright © 2022

Contact Us

We are eager to chat with you about your project or training need.

Send us a note

The Center for Public Interest Communications, the first of its kind in the nation, is designed to study, test and apply the science of strategic communication for social change. We are based at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications.

  • Social Change Communication
  • Science Communication
  • Strategic Communication
  • Broader Impacts
  • Public Interest Communication
  • Narrative Change
  • Leadership Development
  • Strategy Development
  • Effective Presentations
  • Research Translation & Insights

Input your search keywords and press Enter.