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More NC youths paying attention to anti-smoking ads

Posted on December 13, 2007 by Staff

UNC News Services

A statewide anti-smoking campaign reached significantly more youths across North Carolina between 2006 and 2007, and most kids are paying attention to the message, according to an evaluation by researchers in the UNC School of Medicine.

The evaluation found that awareness of the campaign — called “Tobacco. Reality. Unfiltered.” or “TRU” — increased from 54 percent of North Carolina youths in 2006 to 71 percent in 2007. The rise in awareness followed an increase in funding, provided by the North Carolina Health and Wellness Trust Fund, from $1.1 million to $4.5 million annually, which began in fall 2006.

The evaluation also found that North Carolina youths responded well to the ads. More than 95 percent who had seen the ads run in 2007 reported that they were convincing, attention-grabbing and gave good reasons not to use tobacco. More than 25 percent said they talked to their friends about the ads, indicating high “chat value.” Anti-tobacco and pro-health attitudes among North Carolina youth remained stable and strong, the evaluation found.

“North Carolina’s TRU campaign is now reaching nearly three-quarters of young people statewide between the ages of 11 and 17 with true and effective messages from real people in our state who have suffered from tobacco addiction and disease,” said Dr. Adam O. Goldstein, a professor in the UNC School of Medicine’s Department of Family Medicine and director of UNC’s Tobacco Prevention and Evaluation Program, which conducted the evaluation.

“We believe that North Carolina’s TRU campaign is the largest sustained tobacco prevention media campaign in any tobacco-producing state,” Goldstein said. “Our evaluation shows that the increase in funding is producing real and significant benefits.”

The TRU campaign was launched in April 2004 with three ads featuring North Carolina youths telling personal stories of their own or loved ones’ serious health consequences from tobacco use. The ads, developed with information from a report on best practices in youth tobacco prevention ads, ran until October 2004. A fourth ad aired that fall, and a second series of ads aired in late 2005.

To evaluate the effectiveness of the TRU campaign, the survey research unit at UNC conducted several waves of telephone surveys. A baseline survey in March and April 2004 reached 634 youths between the ages of 11 and 17. Follow-up surveys took place immediately after the fall 2004 ad campaign and immediately after the 2005 fall and winter ad campaign. The latest survey, for 2007, began four months after the funding increase went into effect.

The 2007 evaluation report also found that one-third of North Carolina youth remain susceptible to smoking, and that the current ads may have already reached their maximum impact in terms of receptivity among North Carolina youth. The report recommends airing new ads in the upcoming year.

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