Tobacco ads act as an effective lure to get teens smoking

A new study comparing cigarette advertising and how it influences whether or not teenagers will begin smoking explained interesting theories about how strong advertising affects the minds of teens.

The study can be found in Pediatrics.

For the study, researchers presented more than 2,100 teenagers with six cigarette advertisements and six ads from other products like mobile phones, food, and candy. The teens, none of whom had smoked, were questioned about how frequently they witnessed the advertisements.

Following the study, the teens were examined for nine months to assess potential smoking habits. Of the original 2,102 teens, 277 began smoking during the nine month evaluation period.

Teen smoking habits were attributed to seeing the cigarette ads more frequently, as the teens presented with more cigarette ads were more likely to start smoking.

The authors of the study explain advertising as a very powerful method to influence the minds of teenagers and believe tobacco advertising should be banned.