Explicit and implicit effects of anti-marijuana and anti-tobacco TV advertisements.

Effects of anti-tobacco and anti-marijuana TV advertisements on explicit (i.e., semantic differential ratings) and implicit (i.e. Implicit Association Test, IAT) attitudes toward tobacco and marijuana were compared. Two hundred twenty nine, 18- to 19-year-old U.S. college students were randomly assigned to anti-tobacco or anti-marijuana PSA viewing conditions. Participants completed a short survey on attitudes to tobacco and marijuana. Afterwards they watched 15 PSAs embedded in a 15-min science program. At the end, all participants completed IAT for marijuana, IAT for tobacco and the assessment of explicit attitudes. Results of ANCOVA revealed a significant interaction between type of TV PSAs watched and implicit attitudes, F(1,223)=7.12, p<0.01 when controlling for preexisting attitudes to both substances; the implicit attitudes were more negative toward the substance that corresponded to the content of advertisements watched (i.e., anti-tobacco or anti-marijuana). However, analogical analysis on explicit measures showed that attitudes to marijuana became less negative among students that watched anti-marijuana ads than the group with anti-tobacco ads, F(1,222)=5.79, p<0.02. The discussion focused on the practical and theoretical implications of the observed dissociation between implicit and explicit attitudes to marijuana after the exposure to anti-marijuana PSAs.

[1]  A. Andersen,et al.  Provocative appeals in anti-smoking mass media campaigns targeting adolescents--the accumulated effect of multiple exposures. , 1997, Health education research.

[2]  J. Brehm,et al.  Psychological Reactance: A Theory of Freedom and Control , 1981 .

[3]  G. Crombez,et al.  Implicit alcohol-related cognitions in a clinical sample of heavy drinkers. , 2004, Journal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry.

[4]  Mark W. Lipsey,et al.  A Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Mass Communication for Changing Substance Use Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behavior , 2001 .

[5]  Laurie A. Rudman,et al.  Sources of Implicit Attitudes , 2004 .

[6]  Patrick M. O'Malley,et al.  Monitoring the Future: National Results on Adolescent Drug Use. Overview of Key Findings, 2003. NIH Publication No. 04-5506. , 2004 .

[7]  Glen Szczypka,et al.  The Effect of Antismoking Advertisement Executional Characteristics on Youth Comprehension, Appraisal, Recall, and Engagement , 2005, Journal of health communication.

[8]  J. Hilton,et al.  Attitudes and the Implicit Association Test. , 2001, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[9]  L. Johnston,et al.  Trends in Recall and Appraisal of Anti-Smoking Advertising Among American Youth: National Survey Results, 1997–2001 , 2005, Prevention Science.

[10]  Brian A. Nosek,et al.  A unified theory of implicit attitudes, stereotypes, self-esteem, and self-concept. , 2002, Psychological review.

[11]  J. Dovidio,et al.  On the nature of prejudice: Automatic and controlled processes , 1997 .

[12]  S. Fortmann,et al.  Young adults' opinions of Philip Morris and its television advertising , 2002, Tobacco control.

[13]  Rupert Brown,et al.  Blackwell handbook of social psychology: intergroup processes , 2002 .

[14]  L. Biener Anti-tobacco advertisements by Massachusetts and Philip Morris: what teenagers think , 2002, Tobacco control.

[15]  J. Cacioppo,et al.  Attitudes and Persuasion: Classic and Contemporary Approaches , 1981 .

[16]  C. Pechmann,et al.  Anti-smoking advertising campaigns targeting youth: case studies from USA and Canada , 2000, Tobacco control.

[17]  L. Biener,et al.  The impact of an antismoking media campaign on progression to established smoking: results of a longitudinal youth study. , 2000, American journal of public health.

[18]  J. Dovidio,et al.  Implicit and Explicit Attitudes: Examination of the Relationship between Measures of Intergroup Bias , 2008 .

[19]  R. Wiers,et al.  How to Change Implicit Drug Use-Related Cognitions in Prevention: A Transdisciplinary Integration of Findings from Experimental Psychopathology, Social Cognition, Memory, and Experimental Learning Psychology , 2004, Substance use & misuse.

[20]  Laurie A. Rudman,et al.  Using the Implicit Association Test to investigate attitude-behaviour consistency for stigmatised behaviour , 2001 .

[21]  Michael D. Slater,et al.  Testing Alternative Explanations for Exposure Effects in Media Campaigns , 2002, Commun. Res..

[22]  G. Giovino,et al.  Effects of Anti-Smoking Advertising on Youth Smoking: A Review , 2003, Journal of health communication.

[23]  William L. Benoit,et al.  Testing the mediating role of cognitive responses in the elaboration likelihood model , 2001 .

[24]  Peter Messeri,et al.  Getting to the truth: evaluating national tobacco countermarketing campaigns. , 2002, American journal of public health.

[25]  Duane T. Wegener,et al.  The elaboration likelihood model: Current status and controversies. , 1999 .

[26]  Michael A. Olson,et al.  Implicit measures in social cognition. research: their meaning and use. , 2003, Annual review of psychology.

[27]  Judith M. Tanur,et al.  Questions About Questions: Inquiries into the Cognitive Bases of Surveys , 1993 .

[28]  A. Greenwald,et al.  Measuring individual differences in implicit cognition: the implicit association test. , 1998, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[29]  L. Donohew,et al.  Television campaigns and adolescent marijuana use: tests of sensation seeking targeting. , 2001, American journal of public health.

[30]  R. Wiers,et al.  Implicit and explicit attitudes toward smoking in a smoking and a nonsmoking setting. , 2005, Addictive behaviors.

[31]  L. Biener,et al.  Adult and youth response to the Massachusetts anti-tobacco television campaign. , 2000, Journal of public health management and practice : JPHMP.

[32]  Robin L. Nabi,et al.  Avoiding the boomerang: testing the relative effectiveness of antidrug public service announcements before a national campaign. , 2002, American journal of public health.

[33]  John T. Cacioppo,et al.  The Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion , 1986, Advances in Experimental Social Psychology.

[34]  David B Abrams,et al.  Adolescents' reactions to the imagery displayed in smoking and antismoking advertisements. , 2002, Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors.

[35]  D. Buchanan,et al.  This is the Partnership for a Drug-Free America: Any Questions? , 1998 .

[36]  Lois Biener,et al.  Adults' response to Massachusetts anti-tobacco television advertisements: impact of viewer and advertisement characteristics , 2000, Tobacco control.

[37]  Dave Hill,et al.  The return of scare tactics , 1998, Tobacco control.

[38]  W. Crano,et al.  Mass media and drug prevention : classic and contemporary theories and research , 2002 .

[39]  C. Husten,et al.  Cigarette smoking among adults--United States, 2002. , 2004, MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report.

[40]  M. Goldberg,et al.  What to Convey in Antismoking Advertisements for Adolescents: The use of Protection Motivation Theory to Identify Effective Message Themes , 2003 .

[41]  Timothy D. Wilson,et al.  A model of dual attitudes. , 2000, Psychological review.

[42]  M. Earleywine,et al.  Measuring alcohol expectancies with the implicit association test. , 2003, Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors.

[43]  Clark C. Presson,et al.  The Intergenerational Transmission of Implicit and Explicit Attitudes Toward Smoking. , 2009, Journal of experimental social psychology.

[44]  Derek R. Lane,et al.  Persuasive Strategies for Effective Anti-Drug Messages. , 2003 .

[45]  S. Chaiken,et al.  Dual-process theories in social psychology , 1999 .

[46]  J. Dovidio,et al.  Implicit and explicit prejudice and interracial interaction. , 2002, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[47]  Clark C. Presson,et al.  Implicit and Explicit Attitudes Toward Cigarette Smoking: the Effects of Context and Motivation , 2003 .

[48]  Bell,et al.  Ambivalence and Persuasion: The Processing of Messages about Immigrant Groups , 1996, Journal of experimental social psychology.

[49]  J. Nonnemaker,et al.  The theory of "truth": how counterindustry campaigns affect smoking behavior among teens. , 2005, Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association.

[50]  Brian A. Nosek,et al.  Understanding and using the implicit association test: I. An improved scoring algorithm. , 2003, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[51]  Patrick M. O'Malley,et al.  Monitoring the Future National Results on Adolescent Drug Use: Overview of Key Findings, 2004. , 2003 .

[52]  J. Dovidio,et al.  Implicit stereotyping and prejudice and the primed Stroop task , 1999 .

[53]  Claude H. Miller,et al.  Adolescent Reactance and Anti-Smoking Campaigns: A Theoretical Approach , 2003, Health communication.

[54]  L. M. Sagrestano,et al.  Social, attitudinal, and demographic correlates of adolescent vs college-age tobacco use initiation. , 2005, American journal of health behavior.

[55]  J. Dovidio,et al.  Implicit and Explicit Prejudice and Interracial Interaction , 2002 .

[56]  Christopher E. Beaudoin Exploring Antismoking Ads: Appeals, Themes, and Consequences , 2002, Journal of health communication.

[57]  John T. Cacioppo,et al.  Involvement and Persuasion: Tradition Versus Integration , 1990 .

[58]  Russell H. Fazio,et al.  New technologies for the direct and indirect assessment of attitudes. , 1992 .

[59]  W DeJong,et al.  A critical perspective on the drug czar's antidrug media campaign. , 1999, Journal of health communication.

[60]  G. Giovino,et al.  Role of the media in influencing trajectories of youth smoking. , 2003, Addiction.

[61]  T. Palfai,et al.  Alcohol-related motivational tendencies in hazardous drinkers: assessing implicit response tendencies using the modified-IAT. , 2003, Behaviour research and therapy.

[62]  Marco Perugini,et al.  Predictive models of implicit and explicit attitudes. , 2005, The British journal of social psychology.

[63]  J. Brehm A theory of psychological reactance. , 1981 .

[64]  S A Glantz,et al.  Evaluation of antismoking advertising campaigns. , 1998, JAMA.