'Smoking kills' vs. 'Smoking makes restless': Effectiveness of different warning labels on smoking behavior

Abstract

Warning labels on cigarette packages rely on the negative health aspects of smoking. For smokers, however, smoking is related to positive as well as to negative outcomes. Positive smoking outcomes are shown to be crucial in activating smoking behaviour. Thus, this study compared current health warnings with warning labels contradicting positive outcomes. In a field study, 39 adult smokers were followed over a 5-day period to investigate the effect of the different types of warning labels on actual smoking behaviour. Our results provide evidence that smokers, who received warning labels contradicting positive outcome expectancies, smoked less than smokers, who received current health warnings. Thus, contradicting positive smoking outcomes on cigarette warning labels may be an effective tool in smoking prevention and intervention.