MORE EFFECTIVE
Strong negative emotional appeals that produce a sense of loss, disgust, anger, fear, etc.
Personal testimony: young people talking about their own experiences
Graphic depiction: unexpected, exciting, unpleasant or even shocking images that people will remember
Providing information without telling young people what to do
Persuasive new information or new perspectives about health risks
Revealing the deceptive practices of the tobacco industry
Showing young people rebelling against the tobacco industry
LESS EFFECTIVE
Appealing only to the intellect using facts and statistics Using an "expert" talking about other people
Language and images that people have seen many times before and that they won’t remember
Telling young people what to do, such as, “Don’t smoke!”
Repeating health information people already know, like “Smoking causes cancer” or “Smoking kills”
Presenting tobacco use as an individual choice, or blaming smokers
Portraying young people as victims
UNKNOWN EFFECTIVENESS
The following themes may or may not be effective -- the research is limited or inconclusive:
Social disapproval (smoking isn’t cool, people don’t like smokers, etc.)
Refusal skills (how to resist peer pressure)
Secondhand smoke (probably not effective for youth prevention)
Cosmetic or short-term effects (yellow teeth, bad breath, smelly clothes, etc.)
How smoking affects athletic performance
Addiction
Source: Tobacco Use Prevention Media Campaigns: Lessons Learned from Youth in Nine Countries, Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 2006.
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