Does viewing pro-versus anti-smoking photos affect students’ smoking intentions and appraisals?

The current study examines whether the type (pro-versus anti-smoking) and subtlety (blatant versus subtle) of the smoking-related media message, and smoking status (never smoker versus experimental smoker) of the participant would influence their smoking intentions and their appraisals of smokers. In order to investigate this, 158 undergraduate psychology students were exposed to one of four smoking-related media message conditions in the form of pictures: (1) subtle pro-smoking, (2) blatant pro-smoking, (3) subtle anti-smoking, and (4) blatant anti-smoking media messages. They were then presented with a vignette that either described a fictional character, “Marie,” as a smoker or a nonsmoker. Smoking-related media messages did not significantly affect participants’ smoking intentions as a floor effect was found with participants’ smoking intentions. Experimental smokers had higher intentions to smoke and made more positive appraisals of the smoking character, “Marie” compared to never smokers, while generally participants gave higher ratings on all positive adjectives to “Marie” as a nonsmoker than as a smoker. The findings of the current study support a strong negative halo effect in the ratings of smokers, suggesting a general social prejudice against smokers amongst Australian university students