Pechmann,
C. and C.F. Shih (1999), "Smoking Scenes in Movies and Antismoking
Advertisements Before Movies: Effects on Youth," Journal of Marketing,
63 (July), 1-13.
article
abstract:
In two experiments, the authors test rival theses regarding the effects
of smoking in feature films on youths and the ability of antismoking advertising
to nullify those effects. Eight hundred ninth graders watched either original
movie footage with smoking or control footage with the smoking edited
out. Emotional reactions were recorded during viewing, and smoking-related
thoughts, beliefs, and intent were assessed afterward. The findings support
the Forbidden Fruit thesis, in that smoking (versus nonsmoking) scenes
positively aroused the young viewers, enhanced their perceptions of smokers'
social stature, and increased their intent to smoke. However, youths'
opinions were malleable, and showing them an antismoking advertisement
before the film effectively repositioned the smoking from forbidden to
tainted, thereby nullifying the aforementioned effects. No support was
obtained for the Excitation Transfer theory, which predicts that the positive
arousal evoked by movie scenes would transfer to smokers who were depicted
in those scenes. The authors discuss policy implications for film content
and antismoking advertising.
