The shocking images on cigarette packs might not be effective when used alone. They could even be counterproductive.
How do shocking photos on cigarette packs influence consumers? This is the question that researchers at the University of Illinois (United States) have tried to answer. Their results seem to show that imposed alone, the obligation to display these images would not have much effect.
The 435 subjects in their study, aged 18 to 25, smokers and non-smokers, were asked to complete a personality questionnaire and judge their reaction to the sight of packs of cigarettes. Some carried only the usual written warning, and others the warning with a photo.
“Whether they are smokers or not, most people do not like these warnings,” explains Nicole LaVoie, doctoral student in communication and in charge of the study. “It annoys them, they feel manipulated. Ultimately, they believe that the source – the government, which imposes the warnings – enjoys a dominant position, and is meddling in their own affairs.
A boomerang effect
In particular, the study showed that the warnings could be counterproductive in people with a tendency to “reactive psychologically”. When they feel their freedom limited, especially by a call to fear, these people tend to adopt an attitude opposite to what is suggested to them.
These results raise a problem: smokers are more prone to reactance than non-smokers. The measure could then have counterproductive effects on “a population that would need the most help if they fight their addiction to smoking,” adds Nicole Lavoie.
Associate all measures
A law was to impose this kind of photos on cigarette packets in the United States in 2012, but tobacco manufacturers, standing up against the reform, had obtained a judicial decision on appeal canceling its application. While the debate is still underway across the Atlantic, this study could well throw a stone in the pond and provide an argument in their favor.
However, several studies had shown the opposite results. But this work was carried out in countries where the modification of cigarette packs and the addition of shocking images had been accompanied by other measures: increasing the price of the pack, or banning smoking in public places.
While the neutral package is expected in France in the coming months, studies on anti-smoking measures, which may differ on certain results, seem on the other hand to agree on one principle: for the drop in consumption to be significant. , you must activate all the levers at the same time.
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