The Trouble With Health Warnings
The eye movements of 47 adult smokers in response to viewing the branding and health warning messages on cigarette packages that have just a written warning or a graphic pictorial warning were determined. In 2016 the UK introduced standardized cigarette pack design regulations, similar to those in Canada and Australia.
The cigarette package label on the left was pre-regulation in the UK and included prominent colorful branding of the cigarette company with just a large written health warning at the bottom. The number of eye fixations were mainly on the branding and only a few on the written health warning. The number of fixations were reversed using the post-regulation graphic packages as seen in the graph below:
The study shows that having just a written health warning is much less effective than the more graphic warnings required by the UK, Canada and other countries.
JUUL
This is one of the problems with the marketing of JUUL, which has so far avoided advertising restrictions in Canada. When one looks at the package, there is a large black and white printed warning about nicotine addiction and a larger and more colorful branding, which as shown by this study would be of limited effectiveness as a tobacco product countermeasure. The eyes are drawn to the colorful branding and not the health warning, which is much easier to ignore.
Additionally the warning is not rotated with other health warnings and so vapers learn to avoid looking at it.
Reference
Retzler, C., Shiraj, N., and Retzler, J., "Eye Movement Data Reveal Increased Attention to Combined Health Warnings on Cigarette Packs", Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 194: 336-340, 2019
YouTube Video
You can watch a short video about the other problems with vaping at
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Irwin Law, Publisher
Foreign Associate @ City-Yuwa Partners | Attorney, Legal Writing
5 年Thanks Jim.? I was surprised that this measure of the MPOWER model makes non-smokers upset.? Some get upset by passive smoking prevention measures because that's suppose to be an attack on "freedom."? The idea of warnings upsets people because "smokers already know or they should know."? The bar is pretty low for warnings to be effective because the cost is very low, so if even a few people can be prevented from starting or quit, the cost will be justified.?
Advocate For Nurses Experiencing Actions Against Their License
5 年Has vaping been associated with stroke yet?