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Success of Counter-Marketing Campaigns

Partnership Counter-Marketing Success

Tobacco counter-marketing efforts by The Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi were diligently monitored to ensure success. Both the RAT campaign (targeting 6 – 11 year-olds) and the FREE campaign (targeting 12 – 17 year-olds) were regularly examined to ensure Mississippi youth were receiving effective tobacco counter-marketing messages.

  • Ad tracking for 12 – 17 year-olds showed that the majority of youth (95.7%) mentioned TV as the place anti-tobacco messages were seen or heard.
    • 26.3% report getting the messages from radio.
  • Based on the results of tracking conducted between Oct. 04 to May 05 for the FREE campaign,
    • 92.3% of respondents said the FREE TV ads were believable
    • 91.3% said the TV ads gave them good reasons not to use tobacco, alcohol or drugs
    • 96.2% said the FREE radio ads were believable
    • 88% said the radio ads gave them good reasons not to use tobacco, alcohol or drugs.

    RAT awareness studies were conducted at least once during most years. The most recent study was conducted in October 2004.

    • When asked about the perceived effectiveness of anti-tobacco advertising, 3 out of 4 respondents had spoken to a friend or relative about the ads they had seen.
    • 80% had both spoken to a friend or family member about quitting and also asked them not to smoke around them.
    • 97% indicated that even if their best friend offered them a cigarette, they would not smoke it.
    • Also, the majority, 64.4% of respondents agree that not smoking is a way to express their independence. Only 12% believe that smoking makes young people look cool or fit in.

      • Effectiveness of State-Sponsored Campaigns

      Tracking and evaluation conducted by The Partnership was complemented by a number of national studies which validated the success of counter-marketing campaigns. According to a study published in the July 2005 edition of the peer-reviewed Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, state-sponsored tobacco counter-marketing efforts had a big impact on tobacco-usage rates among youth. In markets where state-sponsored tobacco counter-marketing is ubiquitous, youth are:

    • Less likely to use tobacco
    • Less likely to think they will use tobacco in the future
    • Less likely to believe their friends will use tobacco in the future
    • More likely to perceive tobacco as addictive and harmful.

      • Study conducted with 51,000 students across the country in 8th, 10th, and 12th grades.