Objectives: The objectives of this study are to examine the effectiveness of the currently used warning labels on cigarette packages to encourage smokers to quit smoking before the introduction of warning pictures, and to figure out the effectiveness ...
Objectives: The objectives of this study are to examine the effectiveness of the currently used warning labels on cigarette packages to encourage smokers to quit smoking before the introduction of warning pictures, and to figure out the effectiveness of warning pictures compared to the warning labels in order to provide the basic data needed for our nation to prepare smoking control policies using warning pictures of cigarette packages like foreign countries.
Methods : The research was done by interviewing male and female enrolled students at a university in Seoul, a total number of 221 people -109 people (56 smokers, 46 non-smokers) for warning labels, and 112 people (66 smokers, 46 non-smokers) for warning pictures, and the study analysis is executed through Chi-square test, principal component analysis, and linear regression model by using the SPSS 12.0 program.
Results : As a result of the regression analysis on the effectiveness of the warning labels on current cigarette packages and the newly made warning pictures to encourage smokers to quit smoking, both the warning labels and the warning pictures were assessed as 'giving fear of harmful effects of smoking(p<0.005***)' and 'alerting the harmful effects of smoking' (p<0.026**).
Conclusion : As a result of this study, it was shown that health warning labels and warning pictures both affect quitting smoking. The real circumstance is that the currently used warning labels do not largely affect smokers in reality. With the warning labels that say 'smoking might cause lung cancer or heart disease', consumers do not pay attention to those warning signs based on their thoughts that they have a low chance of getting those diseases. Thus, due to the limitations with improving only the warning labels in order to induce quitting smoking, an inclusion of warning pictures that show harmful effects of cigarette smoking such as damaged body parts or organs to deliver specific information to smokers is advisable in order to induce them to quit smoking. Also, when national publicity about harmful effects of smoking and education of quitting smoking for smokers are made altogether, it is thought that they would bring real effects. Thus, it is expected that the reinforcement of warning labels and the introduction of warning pictures would change the behaviors of smokers.