Don't Go up In Smoke!: Getting Smart On Smokers to Better Inform Your Behavior Change Campaign Efforts

Theoretical Background and research questions/hypothesis:  Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death, killing an estimated 443,000 Americans annually and costing the nation $96B in direct medical costs.  Once on a steady decline, youth and adult smoking rates have stalled. The adverse effects of tobacco are well-known and campaigns that only educate about its health consequences may not be sufficient to motivate smokers to quit smoking.  To effectively reach smokers, we must have a greater understanding of this demographic to motivate them to change their smoking behaviors. 

Methods:  Porter Novelli's ConsumerStyles is a communication-centered database that captures the demographics, psychographics, attitudes, and behaviors of a large, nationally-representative sample of the American population.  In May 2011, Porter Novelli worked with Knowledge Networks to field the online ConsumerStyles survey:

• The survey was sent to a random sample of 14,598 adults who were part of the Knowledge Networks database.
• 8,110 people completed the survey, for a response rate of 56%.

Results:  Approach to health:

• Only 55% of smokers agree that they actively try to prevent disease and illness, compared to 68% of non smokers and 75% of former smokers.
• They are also around 30% less likely than former and non smokers to say that they are actively trying to eat a healthy diet or that living a healthy life is very important to them.

Stress and coping:

• Smokers were 36% more likely than non smokers to be unemployed and looking for work, twice as likely to be disabled and unable to work, and twice as likely to fall into the “under $25,000” income bracket.
• Smokers are also 18% more likely than non smokers to say that they don’t ever seem to have time for themselves and 20% more likely to say that they have little control over things that happen to them.

Motivation:

• They were slightly more likely than non smokers to say that they can do anything they really set their mind to (77% vs 73%).

Former smokers:

• Former smokers paid more attention to almost all of their health indicators, perhaps due to their age (on average ten years older than the smoking population) and perhaps due to issues related to their previous smoking behaviors.

Conclusions: 

• Smokers are less likely to value their overall health and take steps to improve nutrition and physical activity.  This is dangerous combination, making the susceptible to a variety of co-morbidities.
• Smokers are more likely to be low-income, searching for work, or disabled.  This could be a result of tobacco companies targeting these groups and/or a reflection of challenges to those who would otherwise like to quit.
• Interestingly, smokers were more likely to feel like they can do anything they set their minds to.  This may play into the thought of “I can quit whenever I want.”

Implications for research and/or practice:  Smokers are an important audience for many tobacco campaigns, whether focusing on cessation or abstinence.  As health communicators it is vital to understand the thought process and motivators for this important audience.  These insights into the audience will be applicable for anyone working in the field of tobacco.